Dasatinib Reduces Lung Inflammation and Fibrosis in Acute Experimental Silicosis

PLoS One. 2016 Jan 20;11(1):e0147005. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147005. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Silicosis is an occupational lung disease with no effective treatment. We hypothesized that dasatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, might exhibit therapeutic efficacy in silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Silicosis was induced in C57BL/6 mice by a single intratracheal administration of silica particles, whereas the control group received saline. After 14 days, when the disease was already established, animals were randomly assigned to receive DMSO or dasatinib (1 mg/kg) by oral gavage, twice daily, for 14 days. On day 28, lung morphofunction, inflammation, and remodeling were investigated. RAW 264.7 cells (a macrophage cell line) were incubated with silica particles, followed by treatment or not with dasatinib, and evaluated for macrophage polarization. On day 28, dasatinib improved lung mechanics, increased M2 macrophage counts in lung parenchyma and granuloma, and was associated with reduction of fraction area of granuloma, fraction area of collapsed alveoli, protein levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, transforming growth factor-β, and reduced neutrophils, M1 macrophages, and collagen fiber content in lung tissue and granuloma in silicotic animals. Additionally, dasatinib reduced expression of iNOS and increased expression of arginase and metalloproteinase-9 in silicotic macrophages. Dasatinib was effective at inducing macrophage polarization toward the M2 phenotype and reducing lung inflammation and fibrosis, thus improving lung mechanics in a murine model of acute silicosis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Animals
  • Cell Line
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Dasatinib / pharmacology*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Macrophages / metabolism*
  • Macrophages / pathology
  • Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Neutrophils / metabolism*
  • Neutrophils / pathology
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / metabolism
  • Pulmonary Alveoli / metabolism*
  • Pulmonary Alveoli / pathology
  • Pulmonary Fibrosis / drug therapy*
  • Pulmonary Fibrosis / metabolism
  • Pulmonary Fibrosis / pathology
  • Silicosis / drug therapy*
  • Silicosis / metabolism
  • Silicosis / pathology

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II
  • Nos2 protein, mouse
  • Matrix Metalloproteinase 9
  • Mmp9 protein, mouse
  • Dasatinib

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme [FP7-2007-2013] under grant agreement no. HEALTH-F4-2011-282095 (HCCFN, PRMR), Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (MMM, CMT, HCCFN, PRMR), the Rio de Janeiro State Research Foundation (FAPERJ) (CNPq) (MMM, CMT, HCCFN, PRMR) and Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel (CAPES) (MMM, CMT, HCCFN, PRMR). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.