Impairment of alveolar macrophage transcription in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Alveolar macrophages are inflammatory cells that may contribute to the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which is characterized by excessive alveolar aggregation of cells and extracellular matrix proteins.

Objectives

To identify potential molecular mechanisms of IPF.

Methods

To examine large-scale gene expression, messenger RNA isolated from alveolar macrophages and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from subjects with IPF and normal volunteers was hybridized to cDNA filters.

Measurements and main results

We showed that in IPF there is global down-regulation of gene expression in alveolar macrophages but not in blood monocytes. Nuclear run-on and pulse-chase studies showed that alveolar macrophages had significantly reduced transcri

SUBMITTER: Ren P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1899274 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature