In December 13th, 2017, Professor JieChao’ research team published a research paper named as CircHIPK2-mediated σ-1R promotes endoplasmic reticulum stress in human pulmonary fibroblasts exposed to silica on the international academic journal, Cell Death & Disease (SCI, IF:5.965, Q1).
This study mainly discussed whether sigma-1 receptor (σ-1R) could mediate silicosis fibrosis through ER stress and the possibility of circRNA acting as σ-1R regulator. σ-1R, which has been associated with cell proliferation and migration in the central nervous system, is expressed in the lung, but its role in silicosis remains unknown. Our study elucidated a link between SiO2-induced fibrosis and σ-1R signaling, thereby providing novel insight into the potential use of σ-1R/ERS in the development of novel therapeutic strategies for silicosis treatment.
The research was guided by Professor Jie Chao and undergraduate Zhouli Cao is the first co-author in this paper. Theyoung investigators- Xiaoniu Dai, participated in the guidance.Doctoral students, Zewei Zhou andRong Jiang, graduate students,Xiyue Yang together withHuifang Guo also participate in theresearch.This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, theNatural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
