Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26324850›Full record

ArticleFASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology2016

STAT-3 contributes to pulmonary fibrosis through epithelial injury and fibroblast-myofibroblast differentiation.

Mesias Pedroza, Thuy T Le, Katherine Lewis, Harry Karmouty-Quintana, Sarah To, Anuh T George, Michael R Blackburn, David J Tweardy, Sandeep K Agarwal

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 114 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
114citing papers in PubMed
8.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

114 citing papers in PubMed, 193 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. STAT3 Inhibition to Treat Ulcerative Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Advances in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis diagnosis and treatment.Chinese medical journal pulmonary and critical care medicine · 2025
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article

54 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Mesias Pedroza*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
Thuy T Le*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
Katherine Lewis*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
Harry Karmouty-Quintana*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
Sarah To*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
Anuh T George*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
Michael R Blackburn*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
David J Tweardy*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA.
Sandeep K Agarwal*Department of Medicine and Department of Infectious Disease, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA; and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA skagarwa@bcm.edu.
Baylor College of Medicine · USTexas Medical Center · USThe University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston · US

Funding

Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS)UL1TR000371 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · PI MCPHERSON, DAVID D · 2012 to 2016
$13.4M
Trangenic Mouse Breeding CoreP01HL114457 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · PI ZHANG, YUJIN · 2013 to 2017
$10.0M
Immunology Scientist Training ProgramT32AI053831 · NIAID · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI CORRY, DAVID B · 2003 to 2018
$4.2M
Cadherin-11 Regulation Of Dermal Fribrosis And Macrophage FunctionR01AR062056 · NIAMS · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI AGARWAL, SANDEEP K · 2012 to 2016
$1.7M
Cadherin-11 Regulation of Fibroblast-like Synoviocytes in Synovial InflammationK08AR054404 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · PI AGARWAL, SANDEEP K · 2008 to 2012
$601k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000371NHLBI NIH HHS P01 HL114457NIAID NIH HHS 2T32AI053831-11A1NIAID NIH HHS T32 AI053831NIAMS NIH HHS K08 AR054404NIAMS NIH HHS K08AR054404NIAMS NIH HHS R01 AR062056NIAMS NIH HHS R01AR062056
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lung fibrosis is the hallmark of the interstitial lung diseases. Alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) injury is a key step that contributes to a profibrotic microenvironment. Fibroblasts and myofibroblasts subsequently accumulate and deposit excessive extracellular matrix. In addition to TGF-β, the IL-6 family of cytokines, which signal through STAT-3, may also contribute to lung fibrosis. In the current manuscript, the extent to which STAT-3 inhibition decreases lung fibrosis is investigated. Phosphorylated STAT-3 was elevated in lung biopsies from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and bleomycin (BLM)-induced fibrotic murine lungs. C-188-9, a small molecule STAT-3 inhibitor, decreased pulmonary fibrosis in the intraperitoneal BLM model as assessed by arterial oxygen saturation (control, 84.4 ± 1.3%; C-188-9, 94.4 ± 0.8%), histology (Ashcroft score: untreated, 5.4 ± 0.25; C-188-9, 3.3 ± 0.14), and attenuated fibrotic markers such as diminished α-smooth muscle actin, reduced collagen deposition. In addition, C-188-9 decreased the expression of epithelial injury markers, including hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). In vitro studies show that inhibition of STAT-3 decreased IL-6- and TGF-β-induced expression of multiple genes, including HIF-1α and PAI-1, in AECs. Furthermore, C-188-9 decreased fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation. Finally, TGF-β stimulation of lung fibroblasts resulted in SMAD2/SMAD3-dependent phosphorylation of STAT-3. These findings demonstrate that STAT-3 contributes to the development of lung fibrosis and suggest that STAT-3 may be a therapeutic target in pulmonary fibrosis.

Indexed as

AnimalsBleomycinCell DifferentiationDisease Models, AnimalEpithelial CellsIdiopathic Pulmonary FibrosisLungMaleMice, Inbred C57BLMyofibroblastsSTAT3 Transcription FactorBleomycinStat3 protein, mouseSTAT3 Transcription Factorepithelial injuryfibrosismyofibroblastSTAT3

Identifiers

PMID26324850
PMCPMC4684532
OpenAlexW1853941740

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.