Acute lung injury (ALI) is a pneumonic response characterized by neutrophil infiltration. Macrophage efferocytosis is the process whereby macrophages remove apoptotic cells, and is required for ALI inflammation to subside. The glycoprotein ulinastatin (UTI) has an anti-inflammatory effect during the acute stages of ALI, but its effect on efferocytosis and the subinflammatory stage of ALI is unclear. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5) is a key protein in efferocytosis, and we thus hypothesized that it may be activated by UTI to regulate efferocytosis and the resolution of pneumonia. To test this hypothesis, here we monitored phagocytosis of macrophages through in vivo and in vitro experiments. Pulmonary edema, neutrophil infiltration, protein exudation, and inflammatory factor regression were observed on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 in vivo. RAW264.7 cells were pretreated with different concentrations of UTI and ERK5 inhibitors, and the expression of tyrosine-protein kinase Mer (Mer) protein on macrophage membrane was detected. UTI increased the phagocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils by macrophages in vitro and in vivo, and promoted the resolution of pneumonia. The protein expression of ERK5 and Mer increased with UTI concentration, while the expression of Mer was down-regulated by ERK5 inhibitors. Therefore, our results suggest that UTI enhances efferocytosis and reduces lung inflammation and injury through the ERK5/Mer signaling pathway, which may be one of the targets of UTI in the treatment of lung injury.Acute lung injury (ALI) is a critical clinical illness of common occurrence and is a pneumonic reaction characterized by neutrophil infiltration [1]. The pathophysiological process of ALI can be roughly divided into the acute inflammatory stage and the subsiding inflammatory stage. In the subsiding phase of inflammation, macrophages directly engulf and clear apoptotic neutrophils to repair damaged tissues, a process called efferocytosis, which promotes the recovery of lung epithelial and endothelial functions and the reconstruction of lung tissue structure. If apoptotic cells are not cleared in time, many intracellular danger signaling molecules are released by secondary cell necrosis, which further hinders tissue repair. Therefore, promoting the regression of pneumonia will shorten the pathophysiological process of ALI and reduce lung injury [2,3].Ulinastatin (UTI), a commonly used drug in clinical practice, is an endogenous molecule with actions against infectious pathogens and its pharmacological Abbreviations ALI, acute lung injury; ERK5, extracellular signalregulated kinase 5; Mer, tyrosine-protein kinase Mer; UTI, ulinastatin.