Contribution of meprin β in lung fibrosis

Introduction: Lung fibrosis is a severe disease which is characterized by collagen deposition and stiffening of the lung. Over-expression of the transcription factor fra-2 in mice (fra-2 tg) leads to an increase of the inflammatory infiltrate, pro-fibrogenic factors and to development of lung fibrosis, which resembled the human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The protease meprin β is the most upregulated gene in the lung of fra-2 tg mice. In addition, meprin β has been previously shown to enhance maturation of collagen. Therefore, we speculate that meprin β is an important player in lung fibrosis. Methods a…