Journal
INFLAMMATION
Volume 35, Issue 2, Pages 484-500Publisher
SPRINGER/PLENUM PUBLISHERS
DOI: 10.1007/s10753-011-9337-1
Keywords
Acute lung injury (ALI); Apoptosis; Flt-1; Flk-1; Lipopolysaccharide (LPS); Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
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Funding
- Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan [22406025, 21249086, 20790296]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [22790893, 21591112, 21249086, 24659793, 20790296, 23406029, 22406025] Funding Source: KAKEN
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Molecular mechanisms of sepsis-associated acute lung injury (ALI) are poorly defined. Since vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent vascular permeability and mitogenic factor, it might contribute to the development of ALI in sepsis. Thus, using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced (15 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) endotoxemic rat model, we studied the timeline (1, 3, 6, and 10 h) of pulmonary VEGF expression and its signaling machinery. Levels of pulmonary VEGF and its angiogenic-mediating receptor, Flk-1, were downregulated by LPS in a time-dependent manner; levels of plasma VEGF and its permeability-mediating receptor, Flt-1, in contrast, was upregulated with time. In addition, blockade of Flt-1 could improve the downregulated pulmonary VEGF level and attenuate the elevated plasma and pulmonary levels of TNF-alpha, followed by improvement of arterial oxygenation and wet-to-dry weight ratio of the lung. Expression of signaling, pro- and or apoptotic factors after LPS administration were as follows: phosphorylated Akt, a downstream molecule was downregulated time dependently; endothelial nitric oxide synthase levels were significantly reduced; pro-apoptotic markers caspase 3 and Bax were upregulated whereas levels of Bcl-2 were downregulated. The present findings show that VEGF may play a role through the expression of Flt-1 in LPS-induced ALI. Moreover, downregulation of VEGF signaling cascade may account for LPS-induced apoptosis and impaired physiological angiogenesis in lung tissues, which in turn may contribute to the development of ALI induced by LPS.
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