Study of SMAD-Dependent Signal Pathway in the Development of Early Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice Infected with Influenza A/H1N1 Virus

• Published in: Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine Vol. 162; no. 5; pp. 647 - 649
• Main Authors: Shatskaya, E. V., Kovner, A. V., Potapova, O. V., Cherdantseva, L. A., Shkurupy, V. A., Shestopalov, A. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2017; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Animals, Outbred Strains; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Bone morphogenetic proteins; Cell Biology; Fibrosis; Health aspects; Humans; Influenza; Influenza A; Influenza A virus; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Influenza, Human - metabolism; Influenza, Human - virology; Internal Medicine; Laboratory Medicine; Lung - pathology; Lung - virology; Lung diseases; Macrophages; Male; Mesenchyme; Mice; Orthomyxoviridae; Pathology; Pulmonary fibrosis; Pulmonary Fibrosis - metabolism; Pulmonary Fibrosis - virology; Signal Transduction; Smad protein; Smad Proteins - metabolism; Stem cells; Swine flu; Transforming growth factors; Virology; lungs; epithelial-mesenchymal transformations; fibrosis; influenza A/H1N1 A/Tomsk/13/2010 virus; SMAD-2
• ISSN: 0007-4888; 1573-8221
• DOI: 10.1007/s10517-017-3678-1

Early fibrosis of the visceral organs is one of the main complications of infection caused by influenza A virus. Structural manifestations and molecular regulators of the epithelialmesenchymal transformation as a possible mechanism of fibrosis progression were studied in mice infected with influenza A/H1N1 A/Tomsk/13/2010 virus. We found early fibrosis of the lungs against the background of minor changes in fibroblast count. However, enhanced expression of TGF-β and SMAD-2 by macrophages and alveolocytes attested to possible development of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and its contribution to activation of fibrogenesis process in the lungs.