MafG/MYH9-LCN2 axis promotes liver fibrosis through inhibiting ferroptosis of hepatic stellate cells

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) secrete extracellular matrix for collagen deposition, contributing to liver fibrosis. Ferroptosis is a novel type of programmed cell death induced by iron overload-dependent lipid peroxidation. Regulation of ferroptosis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) may have therapeutic potential for liver fibrosis. Here, we found that Maf bZIP transcription factor G (MafG) was upregulated in human and murine liver fibrosis. Interestingly, MafG knockdown increased HSCs ferroptosis, while MafG overexpression conferred resistance of HSCs to ferroptosis. Mechanistically, MafG physically interacted with non-muscle myosin heavy chain IIa (MYH9) to transcriptionally activate lipocalin 2 (LCN2) expression, a known suppressor for ferroptosis. Site-directed mutations of MARE motif blocked the binding of MafG to LCN2 promoter. Re-expression of LCN2 in MafG knockdown HSCs restored resistance to ferroptosis. In bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced mice model, we found that treatment with erastin alleviated murine liver fibrosis by inducing HSC ferroptosis. HSC-specific knowdown MafG based on adeno-associated virus 6 (AAV-6) improved erastin-induced HSC ferroptosis and alleviation of liver fibrosis. Taken together, MafG inhibited HSCs ferroptosis to promote liver fibrosis through transcriptionally activating LCN2 expression. These results suggest that MafG/MYH9-LCN2 signaling pathway could be a novel targets for the treatment of liver fibrosis.