Increased lung IL-4 expression in pulmonary fibrosis suggests a potential pathogenetic role for this cytokine. To dissect this role, bleomycin-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis were analyzed and compared in wild type (IL-4+/+) vs IL-4-deficient (IL-4−/−) mice. Lethal pulmonary injury after bleomycin treatment was higher in IL-4−/− vs IL-4+/+ mice. By administration of anti-CD3 Abs, we demonstrated that this early response was linked to the marked T lymphocyte lung infiltration and to the overproduction of the proinflammatory mediators such as TNF-α, IFN-γ, and NO in IL-4−/− mice. In contrast to this early anti-inflammatory/immunosuppressive role, during later stages of fibrosis, IL-4 played a profibrotic role since IL-4−/− mice developed significantly less pulmonary fibrosis relative to IL-4+/+ mice. However, IL-4 failed to directly stimulate proliferation, α-smooth muscle actin, and type I collagen expression in lung fibroblasts isolated from the wild-type mice. Upon appropriate stimulation with other known fibrogenic cytokines, fibroblasts from IL-4−/− mice were relatively deficient in the studied parameters in comparison to fibroblasts isolated from IL-4+/+ mice. Taken together, these data suggest dual effects of IL-4 in this model of lung fibrosis: 1) limiting early recruitment of T lymphocytes, and 2) stimulation of fibrosis chronically.

Leukocyte infiltration is characteristic of lung injury and fibrosis, and its role during tissue repair and fibrosis is incompletely understood. We found that overexpression of IL-5 in transgenic mice (IL-5TG) or by adenoviral gene transfer increased bleomycin (blm)-induced lung injury, fibrosis, and eosinophilia. Surprisingly, blm-treated IL-5-deficient (IL-5−/−) mice also developed pronounced pulmonary fibrosis but characterized by marked T lymphocyte infiltration and absence of eosinophilia. In both murine strains however, induction of lung TGF-β expression was evident. Purified lung eosinophils from blm-treated IL-5TG mice stimulated α-smooth muscle actin and collagen expression in mouse lung fibroblasts, without affecting proliferation. Furthermore instillation of purified eosinophils into murine lungs resulted in extension of blm-induced lung fibrosis, thus confirming a role for eosinophils. However, lung T lymphocytes from blm-treated IL-5−/− mice were able to stimulate fibroblast proliferation but not α-smooth muscle actin or collagen expression. Blocking T cell influx by anti-CD3 Abs abrogated lung fibrosis, thus also implicating T lymphocytes as a key participant in fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis in IL-5TG mice was preferentially associated with type 2 cytokines (IL-4 and IL-13), whereas fibrotic lesions in IL-5−/− animals were accompanied by proinflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IFN-γ) expression. We suggest that eosinophils and T cells contribute distinctly to the development of blm-induced lung fibrosis potentially via their production of different cytokine components, which ultimately induce TGF-β expression that is intimately involved with the fibrosis.

Eotaxin-1/CCL11 and its receptor CCR3 are involved in recruitment of eosinophils to diverse tissues, but their role in eosinophil recruitment in pulmonary fibrosis is unclear. The present study examined the pulmonary expression of CCL11 and CCR3 during bleomycin (blm)-induced lung injury and determined their importance in the recruitment of inflammatory cells and the development of lung fibrosis. In mice, blm induced a marked pulmonary expression of CCL11 and CCR3. Immunostaining for CCR3 revealed that this receptor was not only expressed by eosinophils but also by neutrophils. CCL11-deficient (CCL11 ؊/؊ ) mice developed significantly reduced pulmonary fibrosis. Expression of profibrotic cytokines such as transforming growth factor-␤1 was diminished in the absence of CCL11. Furthermore, increased lung expression of CCL11 significantly enhanced blm-induced lung fibrosis and production of profibrotic cytokines. These effects were also associated with an increase of eosinophil and neutrophil pulmonary infiltration. In contrast, mice treated with neutralizing CCR3 antibodies developed significantly reduced pulmonary fibrosis, eosinophilia, neutrophilia, and expression of profibrotic cytokines. Together, these data suggest that CCL11 and CCR3 are important in the pulmonary recruitment of granulocytes and play significant pathogenic roles in blm-induced lung fibrosis.

Telomerase is induced in certain pathological conditions such as cancer and tissue injury and repair. This induction in fibroblasts from injured lung is repressed by TGFβ via yet unknown mechanisms. In this study, the role of Smad3 in the inhibition of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene transcription by TGFβ was investigated. The rat TERT (rTERT) gene promoter was cloned by PCR amplification and fused with a luciferase reporter gene. This construct was used to analyze regulation of promoter acticity in fibroblasts isolated from bleomycin‐injured lung with induced telomerase activity. The results showed that TGFβ inhibited rTERT transcription while stimulating Smad3 expression. Interestingly, TGFβ also inhibited the expression of c‐myc. Co‐transfection with a Smad3 expressing plasmid further repressed rTERT transcription and c‐myc expression, while co‐transfection with the corresponding anti‐sense Smad3 construct had the opposite effect. Mutation of an E‐box in the rTERT promoter suppressed its activity, which could be further reduced by TGFβ treatment. In contrast mutation at a Smad binding element enhanced promoter activity whose inhibition by TGFβ treatment was impaired. Thus TGFβ inhibition of rTERT gene expression was directly mediated by Smad3 via the Smad binding element, while c‐myc appears to primarily regulate its constitutive or induced expression.

Telomerase activity, which has wide expression in cancerous cells, is induced in lung proliferating fibroblasts. It is preferentially expressed in fibroblasts versus myofibroblasts. It is unknown whether regulation of telomerase expression is related to the process of fibroblast differentiation into myofibroblasts. The objective of this study was to clarify such a potential link between telomerase expression and myofibroblast differentiation. Telomerase inhibitor, 3-azido-2,3-dideoxythymidine, or antisense oligonucleotide to the telomerase RNA component was used to inhibit the induced fibroblast telomerase activity. The results showed that inhibition of induced telomerase increased ␣-smooth muscle actin expression, an indicator of myofibroblast differentiation. In contrast, induction of telomerase by basic fibroblast growth factor inhibited ␣-smooth muscle actin expression. These findings suggest that the loss of telomerase activity is closely associated with myofibroblast differentiation and possibly functions as a trigger for myofibroblast differentiation. Conversely, expression of telomerase suppresses myofibroblast differentiation.