Rabeprazole Destroyed Gastric Epithelial Barrier Function through FOXF1/STAT3-mediated ZO-1 Expression.

Rabeprazole is a representative of proton pump inhibitors and widely used in anti-ulcer treatment. However, the effect of Rabeprazole on gut barrier function remained to be identified. In this study, we showed that ZO-1 expression was decreased in patients receiving Rabeprazole by immunofluorescence (IF) analysis. Western blotting (WB) and real-time PCR (qPCR) results demonstrated that Rabeprazole treatment led to a significant downregulation of ZO-1 expression through inhibition of FOXF1/STAT3 pathway, leading to destroy barrier function, which illustrated a novel pathway that Rabeprazole regulated barrier function in gastric epithelial cells. Mechanistically, Rabeprazole treatment led to a downregulation of STAT3 and FOXF1 phosphorylation, leading to inhibit nuclear translocation and decrease the binding of STAT3 and FOXF1 to ZO-1 promoter, respectively. Most important, endogenous FOXF1 interacted with STAT3, and this interaction was dramatically abolished by Rabeprazole stimulation. Overexpression of STAT3 and FOXF1 in GES-1 cells reversed the inhibitory effect of Rabeprazole on ZO-1 expression, respectively. These finding extended function of Rabeprazole and established a previously unappreciated mechanism by which the Rabeprazole/FOXF1/STAT3 axis facilitated ZO-1 expression to regulate barrier function, and a comprehensive consideration and evaluation was required in treatment of patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.