Alveolar Epithelial Cell Injury with EBV Upregulates TGF-beta1 Expression

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a refractory and lethal interstitial lung disease characterized by alveolar epithelial cells apoptosis, fibroblast proliferation and extra-cellular matrix proteins deposition. Epstein - Barr virus (EBV) has previously been localised to alveolar epithelial cells of IPF patients. In this study we utilised a microarray based differential gene expression analysis strategy to identify potential molecular drivers of EBV associated lung fibrosis. We employed an alveolar epithelial cell line infected with EBV (A-Akata). Lytic phase infection induced in the A-Akata cells by TPA/BA treatment resulted in increase of TGFbeta1 and TIEG1 mRNA expression. Treatment of the A-Akata cells with ganciclovir,

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Malizia AP, Keating DT, Smith SM, Walls D, Doran PP, Egan JJ