• Jeffrey Nicastro, Gene F Coppa, Weng-Lang Yang, Matthew D Giangola, and Salil R Rajayer.
• *Department of Surgery, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine and †The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, New York.
• Shock. 2013 Oct 1.

AbstractSepsis is an acute inflammatory condition that can result in multiple organ failure and acute lung injury (ALI). Growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6) is a broad regulator of the innate immune response involved with the NF-κB signaling pathway. We hypothesized that Gas6 could have a protective role in attenuating the severity of ALI and sepsis. Male mice were subjected to sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) after which recombinant murine Gas6 (rmGas6; 5 μg/mouse) or normal saline (vehicle) was administered intravenously. Blood and lung tissues were collected at 20 h after CLP for various measurements. Treatment with rmGas6 significantly reduced serum levels of the injury markers AST, ALT and LDH as well as proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-17, compared to the vehicle group (P<0.05). The parenchyma of the lungs damaged by CLP was attenuated by rmGas6 treatment. Lung mRNA levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17 and MIP-2 were decreased by 60%, 86%, 82%, 93% and 82%, respectively, with rmGas6 treatment as determined by real time RT-PCR (P<0.05). The degradation of IκB-α induced by CLP in the lungs was inhibited by rmGas6 treatment. The number of neutrophils and myeloperoxidase activity in the lungs were significantly reduced in the rmGas6 group. Moreover, rmGas6 reduced the in-vitro migration of differentiated human promyelocytic HL60 cells by 64%. Finally, the 10-day survival rate of mice subjected to CLP was increased from 31% in the vehicle group to 67% in the rmGas6 group (P<0.05). Thus, Gas6 has potential to be developed as a novel therapeutic agent to treat patients with sepsis and acute lung injury.

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