title: β-defensin 2 ameliorates lung injury caused by Pseudomonas infection and regulates proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in rat.
abstract: An important member of the defensin family, β-defensin 2, is believed to play an important role in defense against foreign pathogens. In the present study, we constructed lentiviral vectors to express and knockdown β-defensin 2 in rat lungs. The results showed that the infection of β-defensin 2 overexpression lentivirus and β-defensin 2 shRNA effectively increased and suppressed the expression of β-defensin 2 in rat lung, respectively. The overexpression of β-defensin 2 mediated by the lentiviral vector protected lung from infection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but shRNA targeting β-defensin 2 aggregated the damage of lung. In addition, we also found that β-defensin 2 overexpression increased basal expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine such as IL-4, IL-10 and IL-13 and decreased levels of proinflammatory cytokines which include IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, and TNF-α. Moreover, in the process of cytokine regulation, NF-κB pathway may be involved. Taken together, these data suggest that β-defensin 2 has protective effects against infection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in rat and plays a role in inflammatory regulation by adjusting cytokine levels.
authors: Department of Emergency Internal Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Shanghai 200120, China. zhweishen1@163.com.
authors: Zhenwei
authors: Z
authors: Shen
authors: Department of Nephrology, Shanghai East Hospital, Shanghai 200120, China. lufang052@163.com.
authors: Lu
authors: L
authors: Fang
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Shanghai 200003, China. lmzhao6@163.com.
authors: Liming
authors: L
authors: Zhao
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Shanghai 200120, China. hanlei022@163.com.
authors: Han
authors: H
authors: Lei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction; D023083:beta-Defensins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D016328:NF-kappa B; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D023083:beta-Defensins