American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology
-
Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. · Mar 2011
p53 mediates cigarette smoke-induced apoptosis of pulmonary endothelial cells: inhibitory effects of macrophage migration inhibitor factor.
Exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) is the most common cause of emphysema, a debilitating pulmonary disease histopathologically characterized by the irreversible destruction of lung architecture. Mounting evidence links enhanced endothelial apoptosis causally to the development of emphysema. However, the molecular determinants of human endothelial cell apoptosis and survival in response to CS are not fully defined. ⋯ Further, the suppression of MIF or its receptor/binding partner, Jun activation domain-binding protein 1 (Jab-1), with RNAi enhances the sensitivity of human pulmonary endothelial cells to CSE via a p53-dependent (PFT-α-inhibitable) pathway. Finally, we demonstrate that MIF is a negative regulator of p53 expression in response to CSE, placing MIF upstream of p53 as an antagonist of CSE-induced apoptosis. We conclude that MIF can protect human vascular endothelium from the toxic effects of CSE via the antagonism of p53-mediated apoptosis.
-
Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. · Mar 2011
Protective properties of inhaled IL-22 in a model of ventilator-induced lung injury.
High-pressure ventilation induces barotrauma and pulmonary inflammation, thus leading to ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). IL-22 has both immunoregulatory and tissue-protective properties. Functional IL-22 receptor expression is restricted to nonleukocytic cells, such as alveolar epithelial cells. ⋯ IL-22 reduced VILI-associated biotrauma (i.e., pulmonary concentrations of macrophage inflammatory protein-2, IL-6, and matrix metalloproteinase 9) and mediated pulmonary STAT3/SOCS3 activation. In addition, despite a short observation period of 4 hours, inhaled IL-22 resulted in an improved survival of the rats. These data support the hypothesis that IL-22, likely via activation of STAT3 and downstream genes (e.g., SOCS3), is able to protect against cell stretch and pulmonary baro-/biotrauma by enhancing epithelial cell resistibility.
-
Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. · Mar 2011
Polymorphisms in surfactant protein-D are associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by alveolar destruction and abnormal inflammatory responses to noxious stimuli. Surfactant protein-D (SFTPD) is immunomodulatory and essential to host defense. We hypothesized that polymorphisms in SFTPD could influence the susceptibility to COPD. ⋯ We demonstrated an association of polymorphisms in SFTPD with COPD in multiple populations. We demonstrated a correlation between SFTPD SNPs and SP-D protein concentrations. The SNPs associated with COPD and SP-D concentrations differed, suggesting distinct genetic influences on susceptibility to COPD and SP-D concentrations.