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Background: Although the morbidity and mortality rates associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are high, there is still lack of powerful and precise therapeutic options for IPF. Object: Through in vitro model, this study sought to determine whether binding of acetylated CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β (C/EBPβ) to alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) promoter could affect the activity of the latter as well as assess if it is essential for epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and extracellular matrix deposition in IPF. Methods: The expression of EMT and C/EBPβ in A549 cells treated with transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) as pulmonary fibrotic model was detected by western blotting and qPCR. Collagen-I expression using ELISA was performed. The luciferase activity was used to examine the activity of C/EBPβ. Knockdown of C/EBPβ was performed by siRNA. We also investigated the effect of deacetylation of C/EBPβ on EMT using sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). The binding ability of C/EBPβ with α-SMA promoter was affirmed via chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and electrophoresis mobility shift assay (EMSA). The relationship between α-SMA and acetylated C/EBPβ was determined with co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP). SiRNA-mediated knockdown of C/EBPβ in A549 cells attenuated TGF-β1-induced myofibroblast differentiation and ECM deposition. The extent of association between acetylated C/EBPβ and α-SMA promoter was dynamically monitored. Results: It was confirmed that deacetylation of C/EBPβ in A549 cells successfully ameliorated TGF-β1-induced EMT, as shown by reduction in α-SMA expression and excessive collagen-I accumulation. Conclusion: The EMT and fibrotic effect of TGF-β1 is dependent on acetylated C/EBPβ-mediated regulation of α-SMA gene activity. Thus, C/EBPβ acetylation may play a central role in pulmonary fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction to: Mol Med (2021) 27:22 https://doi.org/10.1186/s10020-021-00283-6 Following publication of the original article (Ding et al. [1]), due to a typesetting error, author Ruhua Chen has been missed to be marked as corresponding author. Reference 1 Ding H, Chen J, Qin J, Chen R, Yi Z. TGF- -induced -SMA expression is mediated by C/EBP acetylation in human alveolar epithelial cells. Correction to: TGF- -induced -SMA expression is mediated by C/EBP acetylation in human alveolar epithelial cells. [Extracted from the article]