Haarshini Gunalan
Research Mentor(s): Swati Bhattacharyya
Mentor Department: Internal Medicine, Rheumatology
Authors:
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 88
Abstract
– Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune disease causing fibrosis, fibroblast activation, and severe vascular damage. – Zinc deficiency frequently occurs in SSc patients, correlating with severe disease phenotypes, including diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) and pulmonary hypertension (PH)¹?². – ZIP8 (SLC39A8), a critical zinc transporter regulating intracellular zinc levels, may influence fibrosis progression, but its exact role in SSc is unclear. – This study examined ZIP8 expression in fibroblasts treated with TGF-ß1 and analyzed related fibrosis markers using quantitative PCR (qPCR). – Patient-derived fibroblasts exhibited lower ZIP8 expression and intracellular zinc compared to healthy controls, further decreased after TGF-ß1 treatment, correlating with increased fibrosis markers. – The results identify ZIP8 as a potential therapeutic target to reduce fibrosis in SSc patients by restoring zinc homeostasis.
