Heat-shock transcription factor 2 promotes sodium butyrate-induced autophagy by inhibiting mTOR in ulcerative colitis

Abstract Butyrate-induced autophagy and anti-inflammatory effects of IECs plays an important role in UC. HSP has been proved to be associated with autophagy. HSF2, as an important regulator of HSP, has been determined to be highly expressed in UC. This study was designed to elucidate the relationship between HSF2, butyrate and epithelial autophagy and the potential mechanism of HSF2-related autophagy in UC. The autophagy levels and HSF2 expression in intestinal mucosa were increased in UC patients compared to controls. In DSS colitis models, hsf2-/- mice exhibited more severe intestinal inflammation and lower autophagy levels than wild-type mice. HSF2 expression could be induced by sodium butyrate and LPS as a dose-response relationship in HT-29 cells, epigenetically via increasing histone acetylation levels at the promoter region by sodium butyrate. Autophagy induced by sodium butyrate was promoted by overexpression HSF2 in HT-29 cells. Moreover, overexpression HSF2 decreased the expression and phosphorylation levels of PI3K, Akt and mTOR induced by sodium butyrate. HSF2 might induced by sodium butyrate and inflammation and played protective roles in UC by enhancing autophagy of IECs. This indicated that HSF2 may be a critical target for autophagy modulation and a new potential therapeutic target in UC.