419697

Targeting Glutamine Metabolismm: A Novel Approach to Combat Hepatic Fibrosis

Article

Last updated: 29 Mar 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Biochemistry and molecular biology

Abstract

Liver disease causes around 2 million deaths globally each year, with half due to fibrosis and half due to viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Fibrosis ranks as the 11th leading cause of death worldwide. Egypt has the highest prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, impacting 15%-25% of its rural population. Liver fibrosis results from excessive extracellular matrix protein accumulation, primarily collagen, driven by activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). These cells transform into fibrogenic myofibroblast-like cells following liver injury. Emerging antifibrotic therapies aim to reduce fibrogenic cell accumulation and extracellular matrix deposition. Glutaminase (GLS) is an enzyme that converts glutamine, the most abundant amino acid in circulation, into glutamate, releasing ammonia. Humans have four GLS isoforms, with GLS-1 and GLS-2 being significant. Glutamine metabolism influences HSC proliferation and activation, with glutamine converting to α-ketoglutarate for the Krebs cycle and pyrroline-5-carboxylate, which stimulates collagen production. In healthy livers, GLS-2 predominates, while in fibrotic livers, GLS-2 levels decrease, and GLS-1 increases in stromal cells. Inhibiting GLS-1 may reduce HSC proliferation and fibrosis. The selective GLS-1 inhibitor CB-839 is in clinical trials, and the small molecule 968 inhibits GLS-2. These inhibitors help elucidate the roles of GLS isoforms and offer new strategies for targeting glutamine metabolism in liver fibrosis.

DOI

10.21608/rpbs.2025.358653.1355

Keywords

Hepatic fibrosis, GLS, CB-839, 968-compound, TGF-β1

Authors

First Name

Hoda

Last Name

Fakher

MiddleName

elsayed

Affiliation

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Ismailia , Egypt.

Email

hoda.elsayed15@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Ghada

Last Name

Al-Ashmawy

MiddleName

Mohamed

Affiliation

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

Email

ghadaashmawy@pharm.tanta.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Eman

Last Name

Mehanna

MiddleName

taha

Affiliation

Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt.

Email

eman_taha@pharm.suez.edu.eg

City

Ismailia

Orcid

-

First Name

Noha

Last Name

Mesbah

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Email

noha_mesbah@pharm.suez.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

0000-0002-8863-968X

First Name

Dina

Last Name

Abo-Elmatty

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Email

dina_abouelmouti@pharm.suez.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

9

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

54768

Issue Date

2025-03-01

Receive Date

2025-02-06

Publish Date

2025-03-01

Page Start

19

Page End

30

Print ISSN

2536-9857

Online ISSN

2535-2091

Link

https://rpbs.journals.ekb.eg/article_419697.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=419697

Order

419,697

Type

Mini-reviews

Type Code

534

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Records of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences

Publication Link

https://rpbs.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Targeting Glutamine Metabolismm: A Novel Approach to Combat Hepatic Fibrosis

Details

Type

Article

Created At

29 Mar 2025