Prolonged Development of Elastase-Induced Emphysema is Supported by Increased Apoptosis

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), one of the leading causes of death worldwide, is characterized amongst others by development of emphysema, which is known to occur as a result of imbalance of proteases and antiproteases. There are a variety of enzymes like neutrophil elastase (NE) and matrix metalloprotease 12 (MMP-12), which are capable of destroying parenchymal tissue, causing loss of alveolae and airway enlargement in the lung. We showed that a single application of porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) causes a severe emphysema-like phenotype in C57BL/6 mice (Yildirim et al. 2010, AJRC…