OS-9 is a lectin required for efficient ubquitination of glycosylated substrates of endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation (ERAD). OS-9 has previously been implicated in ER-to-Golgi transport and transcription factor turnover. However, we know very little about other functions of OS-9 under endoplasmic reticulum stress. Here, we used gene knockdown and overexpression approaches to study the protective effect of OS-9 on intestinal barrier function of intestinal epithelial cell Caco-2 monolayer. We found that OS-9 attenuated intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction under hypoxia through up-regulating occludin and claudin-1 protein expression. Furthermore, we showed that the up-regulation of occludin and claudin-1 induced by OS-9 was mediated by p38 and ERK1/2 phosphorylation and did not involve HIF-1α. In summary, our results demonstrate that OS-9 up-regulates occludin and claudin-1 by activating the MAP kinase (MAPK) pathway, and thus protects the epithelial barrier function of Caco-2 monolayer under hypoxia condition.
Keywords: OS-9; intestinal epithelial barrier; p38; tight junction.