Effects of anti-fibrotic standard of care drugs on senescent human lung fibroblasts

RationaleCellular senescence is crucial in the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), but it is yet unclear whether the standard-of-care (SOC) drugs nintedanib and pirfenidone have senolytic properties. ObjectivesWe attempted to illuminate the effects of SOC drugs on senescent normal and IPF lung fibroblasts in vitro. MethodsColorimetric/fluorimetric assays, qRT-PCR, and western blotting were used to evaluate the effect of SOC drugs on senescent normal and IPF lung fibroblasts. ResultsSOC drugs did not induce apoptosis in the absence of death ligands in either normal or IPF senescent cells. Nintedanib increased caspase-3 activity in the presence of Fas Ligand (FasL) in normal but not in IPF senescent fibroblasts. Conversely, nintedanib enhanced B cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 expression in senescent IPF lung fibroblasts. Moreover, in senescent IPF cells, pirfenidone alone induced mixed lineage kinase domain-like pseudokinase (MLKL) phosphorylation, provoking necroptosis. However, fragmented gasdermin D, indicating pyroptosis, was not detected under any condition. In addition, SOC drugs increased transcript levels of fibrotic and senescence markers in senescent IPF fibroblasts, whereas D+Q inhibited all these markers. Finally, D+Q enhanced growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) transcript and protein levels in both normal and IPF senescent fibroblasts. ConclusionsIn the presence and absence of the extrinsic pro-apoptotic ligands, SOC drugs failed to trigger apoptosis in senescent fibroblasts, possibly due to enhanced Bcl-2 levels and the activation of the necroptosis pathway. SOC drugs elevated fibrotic and senescence markers in IPF lung fibroblasts. Together, these data demonstrated the inefficacy of SOC in targeting senescent cells. Further investigation is required to fully elucidate the therapeutic implications of SOC drugs on other senescent cell types in IPF.