SCIENCE AT A GLANCE

Alveolar macrophage-expressed Plet1 is a driver of lung epithelial repair after viral pneumonia

Influenza A virus (IAV) infection mobilizes bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) that gradually undergo transition to tissue-resident alveolar macro-phages (TR-AM) in the inflamed lung. German scientists found that regenerative BMDM and TR-AM highly express Placenta-expressed transcript 1 (Plet1). Plet1 is released from alveolar macrophages, and acts as important mediator of macrophage-epithelial cross-talk during lung repair by inducing proliferation of alveolar epithelial cells and re-sealing of the epithelial barrier. Intratracheal administration of recombinant Plet1 early in the disease course attenuated viral lung injury and rescued mice from otherwise fatal disease, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic to combat severe inflammatory lung injury in viral pneumonia. Whole-genome microarray and scanner are used for transcriptome analysis.

Original publication : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44421-6

#Microarray #Wholegenomemicroarray #Microarray scanner #Viral pneumonia