Citrullinated vimentin mediates development and progression of lung fibrosis
Fu Jun Li, Ranu Surolia, Huashi Li, Zheng Wang, Gang Liu, Tejaswini Kulkarni, Adriana V. F. Massicano, James A. Mobley, Santanu Mondal, João A. de Andrade, Scott A. Coonrod, Paul R. Thompson, Keith Wille, Suzanne E. Lapi, Mohammad Athar, Victor J. Thannickal, A. Brent Carter, Veena B. Antony
Abstract
and TLR4 mutant (MUT) mice, exposed to Cd/CB generated high amounts of Cit-Vim, in both plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and developed lung fibrosis in a stereotypic manner. Together, these studies support a role for Cit-Vim as a damage-associated molecular pattern molecule (DAMP) that is generated by lung macrophages in response to environmental Cd/CB exposure. Furthermore, PAD2 might represent a promising target to attenuate Cd/CB-induced fibrosis.