ArticleThe European respiratory journal2025
Pharmacological inhibition of Epac1 protects against pulmonary fibrosis by blocking FoxO3a neddylation.
Article in The European respiratory journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Inflammasomes in respiratory diseases: from disease pathogenesis to drug development and use of multi-omics.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
- Exploring the therapeutic potential of GLP-1 receptor agonists in pulmonary arterial hypertension.ERJ open research · 2026Review
- Hydrogel-Embedded Precision-Cut Lung Slices Recapitulate Fibrotic Gene Expression and Enable Therapeutic Response Evaluation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Mechanistic basis for the antifibrotic actions of cAMP-based therapies.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is marked by progressive lung scarring with no existing cure, emphasising the need for new therapeutic targets. Current evidence suggests that cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) mitigates lung fibroblast proliferation
objectiveTo investigate the role of Epac1 in IPF progression.
methodsWe examined lung samples from IPF patients and controls, and from a bleomycin-induced mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis. The effects of Epac were analysed in knockout mice and through modulation using viral vectors. The Epac1-specific small compound inhibitor AM-001 was evaluated
resultsIncreased Epac1 expression was observed in lung tissues from IPF patients, fibrotic fibroblasts and bleomycin-challenged mice. Genetic or pharmacological inhibition of Epac1 with AM-001 decreased proliferation in normal and IPF fibroblasts, and reduced expression of profibrotic markers such as α-smooth muscle actin, transforming growth factor-β/SMAD family member 2/3, and interleukin-6/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathways. Epac1-specific inhibition consistently protected against bleomycin-induced lung injury and fibrosis, suggesting significant therapeutic potential. Global gene expression profiling indicated a reduced profibrotic gene signature and neddylation pathway components in Epac1-deficient fibroblasts and human-derived lung cells. Mechanistically, the protective effects may involve inhibiting the neddylation pathway and preventing neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally downregulated 8 (NEDD8) activation, which in turn reduces the degradation of forkhead box protein O3 by NEDD8. Additionally, these effects may be enhanced while also limiting the proliferation of lung-infiltrating monocytes.
conclusionsOur findings demonstrate that Epac1 regulates fibroblast activity in pulmonary fibrosis, and that targeting Epac1 with the pharmacological specific inhibitor AM-001 offers a promising therapeutic approach for treating IPF disease.
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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 Socratic graph.