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. 2021 Jan 20;22(3):985. doi: 10.3390/ijms22030985

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors-γ (PPARγ) in IBDs. PPARγ belongs to the family of nuclear receptors. Its activation involves the translocation in nucleus and the heterodimerization with retinoid X receptor (RXR). The heterodimers bind to sequence-specific PPAR response elements (PPREs), stimulating the transcription of target genes. Corepressors maintain the target genes inactivated in absence of PPARγ ligands. The protective effects of PPARγ include the modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines production, such as TNFγ, IL-6, the inhibition of transcription factors, including NF-kB, STAT-1, AP-1, and intercellular adhesion molecule and MMP-9. PPARγ also determines the downregulation of p65 expression and IkappaB kinase. In contrast, TNF-α activates NF-kB, which stimulates COX-2 to convert arachidonic acid in prostaglandins. The anti-inflammatory properties of prostaglandins are related to their ability to bind PPARγ, blocking NF-kB downstream events. PPARγ synthetic agonists can ameliorate IBD inflammation.