Strong reversal of the lung fibrosis disease signature by autotaxin inhibitor GLPG1690 in a mouse model for IPF

Background and objectives GLPG1690 is a novel potent autotaxin (ATX) inhibitor shown to be efficacious in the mouse bleomycin (BLM) lung fibrosis model. Here, we analyze the impact of GLPG1690 on the gene expression signature in mouse fibrotic lung tissue. Methods Lung fibrosis was induced by intranasal administration of BLM. Animals were treated with GLPG1690 or vehicle.Whole superior right lung was used for RNA extraction. Full transcriptome analysis was performed using the Agilent SurePrint G3 mouse chip. Analysis was performed using empirical Bayes methods and linear models. Public human IPF expression data were re-analyzed. Results GLPG1690 strongly reduced lung fibrosis as shown by reduction of Ashcroft scores and collagen content. Microarray analysis of the lungs revealed that GLPG1690 strongly reversed the impact of gene expression caused by BLM (367 out of the 2375 probes). As GLPG1690 treatment affects 395 probes, this treatment effect is highly relevant in the model. Gene clusters affected by BLM treatment and reverted by GLPG1690 are related to extracellular matrix (such as Tnc and Spp1), collagen (Col3a1) and cytokines/chemokines (Cxcl12). Several of the affected genes are known to be involved in the development or progression of lung fibrosis in IPF patients. Conclusions These data provide further mechanistic understanding of the efficacy of ATX inhibition in a pre-clinical lung fibrosis model, highlighting a role for extracellular matrix and inflammation biology. These data strongly suggest that GLPG1690 may be beneficial in treating IPF patients and support its evaluation in a clinical study.