Abstract
Upon liver intoxication with malnutrition or high-fat diet feeding, fibrinogen is synthesized by hepatocytes and secreted into the blood in human and mouse. Its primary function is to occlude blood vessels upon damage and thereby stop excessive bleeding. High fibrinogen levels may contribute to the development of pathological thrombosis, which is one mechanism linking fatty liver disease with cardiovascular disease. Our previous results present ERRγ as key regulator of hepatocytic fibrinogen gene expression in human. In a therapeutic approach, we now tested ERRγ inverse agonist GSK5182 as regulator of fibrinogen levels in mouse hyperfibrinogenemia caused by diet-induced obesity and in mouse hepatocytes. ACEA, a CB1R agonist, up-regulated transcription of mouse fibrinogen via induction of ERRγ, whereas knockdown of ERRγ attenuated the effect of ACEA (10 µM) on fibrinogen expression in AML12 mouse hepatocytes. Deletion analyses of the mouse fibrinogen γ (FGG) gene promoter and ChIP assays revealed binding sites for ERRγ on the mouse FGG promoter. ACEA or adenovirus ERRγ injection induced FGA, FGB and FGG mRNA and protein expression in mouse liver, while ERRγ knockdown with Ad-shERRγ attenuated ACEA-mediated induction of fibrinogen gene expression. Moreover, mice maintained on a high-fat diet (HFD) expressed higher levels of fibrinogen, whereas cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R)-KO mice fed an HFD had nearly normal fibrinogen levels. Finally, GSK5182 (40 mg/kg) strongly inhibits the ACEA (10 mg/kg) or HFD-mediated induction of fibrinogen level in mice. Taken together, targeting ERRγ with its inverse agonist GSK5182 represents a promising therapeutic strategy for ameliorating hyperfibrinogenemia.