The Journal of clinical investigation
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Biography Historical Article
The physician-scientist: an essential--and fragile--link in the medical research chain.
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Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) confers protection against a variety of oxidant-induced cell and tissue injury. In this study, we examined whether exogenous administration of HO-1 by gene transfer could also confer protection. We first demonstrated the feasibility of overexpressing HO-1 in the lung by gene transfer. ⋯ Furthermore, rats treated with Ad5-HO-1 exhibited attenuation of hyperoxia-induced neutrophil inflammation and apoptosis. Taken together, these data suggest the feasibility of high-level HO-1 expression in the rat lung by gene delivery. To our knowledge, we have demonstrated for the first time that HO-1 can provide protection against hyperoxia-induced lung injury in vivo by modulation of neutrophil inflammation and lung apoptosis.
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Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD, or SOD3) is the major extracellular antioxidant enzyme in the lung. To study the biologic role of EC-SOD in hyperoxic-induced pulmonary disease, we created transgenic (Tg) mice that specifically target overexpression of human EC-SOD (hEC-SOD) to alveolar type II and nonciliated bronchial epithelial cells. Mice heterozygous for the hEC-SOD transgene showed threefold higher EC-SOD levels in the lung compared with wild-type (Wt) littermate controls. ⋯ To evaluate whether reduced numbers of neutrophil infiltration were directly responsible for the tolerance to oxygen toxicity observed in the Tg mice, we made Wt and Tg mice neutropenic using anti-neutrophil antibodies and subsequently exposed them to 72 hours of hyperoxia. Both Wt and Tg neutrophil-depleted (ND) mice have less severe lung injury compared with non-ND animals, thus providing direct evidence that neutrophils recruited to the lung during hyperoxia play a distinct role in the resultant acute lung injury. We conclude that oxidative and inflammatory processes in the extracellular lung compartment contribute to hyperoxic-induced lung damage and that overexpression of hEC-SOD mediates a protective response to hyperoxia, at least in part, by attenuating the neutrophil inflammatory response.
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Allergic asthma, which is present in as many as 10% of individuals in industrialized nations, is characterized by chronic airway inflammation and hyperreactivity induced by allergen-specific Th2 cells secreting interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-5. Because Th1 cells antagonize Th2 cell functions, it has been proposed that immune deviation toward Th1 can protect against asthma and allergies. Using an adoptive transfer system, we assessed the roles of Th1, Th2, and Th0 cells in a mouse model of asthma and examined the capacity of Th1 cells to counterbalance the proasthmatic effects of Th2 cells. ⋯ Surprisingly, Th1 cells did not attenuate Th2 cell-induced airway hyperreactivity and inflammation in either SCID mice or in OVA-immunized immunocompetent BALB/c mice, but rather caused severe airway inflammation. These results indicate that antigen-specific Th1 cells may not protect or prevent Th2-mediated allergic disease, but rather may cause acute lung pathology. These findings have significant implications with regard to current therapeutic goals in asthma and allergy and suggest that conversion of Th2-dominated allergic inflammatory responses into Th1-dominated responses may lead to further problems.
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The purpose of this study was to explore whether repeated exposure to aerosolized ovalbumin (OVA) in the context of local expression of GM-CSF can initiate a Th2-driven, eosinophilic inflammation in the airways. On day -1, Balb/c mice were infected intranasally with an adenovirus construct expressing GM-CSF (Ad/GM-CSF). From day 0 to day 9 mice were exposed daily to an OVA aerosol. ⋯ After resolution, airway eosinophilia was reconstituted after a single OVA exposure. Flow cytometric analysis of dispersed lung cells revealed an increase in macrophages and dendritic cells expressing B7.1 and B7.2, and expansion of activated (CD69-expressing) CD4 and CD8 T cells in mice exposed to OVA and Ad/GM-CSF. Our data indicate that expression of GM-CSF in the airway compartment increases local antigen presentation capacity, and concomitantly facilitates the development of an antigen-specific, eosinophilic inflammatory response to an otherwise innocuous antigen.