respiratory system
• mice exhibit a significant reduction in bleomycin- and adenovirus-TGFbeta-induced pulmonary fibrotic lesions relative to wild-type controls
• however, no visible lung phenotypes are observed under normal conditions
|
• following bleomycin or adenovirus-TGF-beta challenge, static compliance and dynamic compliance are decreased to a much lesser extent than in wild-type controls
|
homeostasis/metabolism
• isolated primary lung fibroblasts show highly increased total Smad7 protein levels relative to wild-type cells
|
• mice exhibit a significant reduction in bleomycin-induced interstitial thickening, alveolar collapse, formation of cystic air spaces, and cross-linked collagen fiber deposition in the lungs relative to bleomycin-treated wild-type controls
|
• mice exhibit a significant reduction in bleomycin- and adenovirus-TGFbeta-induced pulmonary fibrotic lesions relative to wild-type controls
|
cellular
• isolated primary lung fibroblasts show a significant decrease in TGF-beta-dependent activation of several genes encoding extracellular matrix (ECM) components relative to wild-type cells
• following bleomycin or adenovirus-TGF-beta challenge, mice show a significant reduction in the activation of a large panel of ECM genes in the lungs relative to wild-type controls
|