Title:Advances in Anti-metabolic Disease Treatments Targeting CD47
Volume: 28
Issue: 46
Author(s): Li Gao, Zhe He and Yonggui Wu*
Affiliation:
- Department of Nephropathy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China
- Center for Scientific
Research of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China
Keywords:
Metabolic disease, atherosclerosis, hepatic steatosis, lipotoxic nephropathy, obesity, CD47 molecule.
Abstract: Metabolic disorders include a cluster of conditions that result from hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia,
insulin resistance, obesity, and hepatic steatosis, which cause the dysfunction of immune cells and innate cells,
such as macrophages, natural killer cells, vascular endothelial cells, hepatocytes, and human kidney tubular epithelial
cells. Besides targeting the derangements in lipid metabolism, therapeutic modulations to regulate abnormal
responses in the immune system and innate cell dysfunctions may prove to be promising strategies in
the management of metabolic diseases. In recent years, several targets have been explored for the CD47 molecule
(CD47), a glycosylated protein, which was originally reported to transmit an anti-phagocytic signal known
as “don’t eat me” in the atherosclerotic environment, hindering the efferocytosis of immune cells and promoting
arterial plaque accumulation. Subsequently, the role of CD47 has been explored in obesity, fatty liver, and
lipotoxic nephropathy, and its utility as a therapeutic target has been investigated using anti-CD47 antibodies or
inhibitors of the THBS1/CD47 axis and the CD47/SIRPα signaling pathway. This review summarizes the
mechanisms of action of CD47 in different cell types during metabolic diseases and the clinical research progress
to date, providing a reference for the comprehensive targeting of CD47 to treat metabolic diseases and the
devising of potential improvements to possible side effects.
