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Bcl-2 is an anti-apoptotic molecule preventing oxidative stress damage and cell death. We have previously shown that Bcl-2 is able to prevent hyperoxia-induced cell death when overexpressed in a murine fibrosarcoma cell line L929. We hypothesized that its specific overexpression in pulmonary epithelial type II cells could prevent hyperoxia-induced lung injury by protecting the epithelial side of the alveolo-capillary barrier. In the present work, we first showed that in vitro Bcl-2 can rescue murine pulmonary epithelial cells (MLE12) from oxygen-induced cell apoptosis, as shown by analysis of LDH release, annexin V/propidium staining, and caspase-3 activity. We then generated transgenic mice overexpressing specifically Bcl-2 in lung epithelial type II cells under surfactant protein C (SP-C) promoter (Tg-Bcl-2) and exposed them to hyperoxia. Bcl-2 did not hinder hyperoxia-induced mitochondria and DNA oxidative damage of type II cell in vivo. Accordingly, lung damage was identical in both Tg-Bcl-2 and littermate mice strains, as measured by lung weight, bronchoalveolar lavage, and protein content. Nevertheless, we observed a significant lower number of TUNEL-positive cells in type II cells isolated from Tg-Bcl-2 mice exposed to hyperoxia compared with cells isolated from littermate mice. In summary, these results show that although Bcl-2 overexpression is able to prevent hyperoxia-induced cell death at single cell level in vitro and ex vivo, it is not sufficient to prevent cell death of parenchymal cells and to protect the lung from acute damage in mice. apoptosis; oxidative stress; epithelial type II cells; MLE 12; transgenic mice doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00212.2009.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute to alveolar cell death in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and we previously demonstrated that NOX1-derived ROS contributed to hyperoxia-induced alveolar cell death in mice. The study investigates whether NOX1 expression is modulated in epithelial cells concomitantly to cell death and associated to STAT3 signaling in the exudative phase of ARDS. In addition, the role of STAT3 activation in NOX1-dependent epithelial cell death was confirmed by using a lung epithelial cell line and in mice exposed to hyperoxia. NOX1 expression, cell death and STAT3 staining were evaluated in the lungs of control and ARDS patients by immunohistochemistry. In parallel, a stable NOX1-silenced murine epithelial cell line (MLE12) and NOX1-deficient mice were used to characterize signalling pathways. In the present study, we show that NOX1 is detected in alveolar epithelial cells of ARDS patients in the exudative stage. In addition, increased alveolar epithelial cell death and phosphorylated STAT3 are observed in ARDS patients and associated with NOX1 expression. Phosphorylated STAT3 is also correlated with TUNEL staining. We also confirmed that NOX1-dependent STAT3 activation participates to alveolar epithelial cell death. Silencing and acute inhibition of NOX1 in MLE12 led to decreased cell death and cleaved-caspase 3 induced by hyperoxia. Additionally, hyperoxia-induced STAT3 phosphorylation is dependent on NOX1 expression and associated with cell death in MLE12 and mice. This study demonstrates that NOX1 is involved in human ARDS pathophysiology and is responsible for the damage occurring in alveolar epithelial cells at least in part via STAT3 signalling pathways.