TGF-beta is a critical mediator of acute lung injury.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 11413161.
- Also identified by PMC identifier 200192.
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Abstract
We have shown that the integrin alphavbeta6 activates latent TGF-beta in the lungs and skin. We show here that mice lacking this integrin are completely protected from pulmonary edema in a model of bleomycin-induced acute lung injury (ALI). Pharmacologic inhibition of TGF-beta also protected wild-type mice from pulmonary edema induced by bleomycin or Escherichia coli endotoxin. TGF-beta directly increased alveolar epithelial permeability in vitro by a mechanism that involved depletion of intracellular glutathione. These data suggest that integrin-mediated local activation of TGF-beta is critical to the development of pulmonary edema in ALI and that blocking TGF-beta or its activation could be effective treatments for this currently untreatable disorder.
Medical subject headings
- Antigens, Neoplasm
- Respiratory Distress Syndrome
- Transforming Growth Factor beta