ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Molecular Innate Immunity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1592921
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Strategies in Antiviral Therapy: Natural Compounds and Intracellular Signaling PathwaysView all articles
Collectin-11 promotes fibroblast proliferation and modulates their activation status and extracellular matrix synthesis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Urology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China
- 2Core Research Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an jiaotong university, China, xi'an, China
- 3King's College London, London, England, United Kingdom
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Collectin-11 (CL-11), a recently described soluble C-type lectin, has been shown to stimulate cell proliferation in fibroblasts and melanoma cells. However, its broader influence on fibroblast functions and the specific receptors mediating CL-11's effects remain to be elucidated. In this study, we demonstrate that CL-11 not only promotes fibroblast proliferation but also modulates their activation status and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis. Specifically, treatment with recombinant CL-11 (rCL-11) significantly upregulated the production of ECM proteins (fibronectin, collagen I), growth factors (EGF, TGF-β1), and proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-11, IL-1β, CXCL1) in renal fibroblasts. Additionally, rCL-11 activated multiple intracellular signaling pathways, including ERK, AKT/mTOR, STAT3, and SMAD2. Further, EGFR and TGF-βRII were found to be abundantly expressed in renal fibroblasts, and molecular docking analysis along with immunofluorescence/confocal microscopy confirmed CL-11's interaction with these receptors. Collectively, our findings provide strong evidence that CL-11 plays a critical role in renal fibroblast proliferation and activation via engagement with EGFR and TGF-βRII, shedding light on the mechanisms by which CL-11 stimulates cellular activation and proliferation.
Keywords: Collectin-11, Renal fibroblast, Cell Proliferation, Fibroblast function, EGFR and TGF-βRII
Received: 13 Mar 2025; Accepted: 22 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Cao, Li, Wu, Zhang, Ma, Zhou and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ke Li, Core Research Laboratory, Second Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an jiaotong university, China, xi'an, China
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