DAP12 is an adapter protein that associates with several receptors in macrophages. Little is known about the biological role of DAP12 in alveolar macrophages. In genome-wide profiling, we previously found that two DAP12-associated receptors, myeloid DAP12-associated lectin-1 and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2), were highly induced in alveolar macrophages from habitual s...

RATIONALE Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP) patients exhibit an acquired deficiency of biologically active granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) attributable to GM-CSF specific autoantibodies. PAP alveolar macrophages are foamy, lipid-filled cells with impaired surfactant clearance and markedly reduced expression of the transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activat...

PPARs, most notably PPAR-gamma, play a crucial role in regulating the activation of alveolar macrophages, which in turn occupy a pivotal place in the immune response to pathogens and particulates drawn in with inspired air. In this review, we describe the dual role of the alveolar macrophage as both a first-line defender through its phagocytotic activity and a regulator of the immune response. ...

A mononuclear cell alveolitis, comprised in part of activated macrophages, is thought to precede granuloma formation and fibrosis in pulmonary sarcoidosis. Tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF), interleukin 1-f3 (IL-l), and prostaglandin E, (PGE,) are potent mediators released by activated alveolar macrophages. To determine if alveolar macrophage TNF, IL-1, and PGE, release was associated with clinical...

Background. Interactions of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) with human alveolar macrophages are implicated in the persistence of NTHI in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the immunologic mechanisms that mediate NTHI-induced macrophage responses are poorly understood. We hypothesized that immunologic responses of alveolar macrophages to NTHI are impaired in COPD. M...

Macrophage-induced lung inflammation contributes substantially to respiratory failure during Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. We isolated a P. carinii cell wall fraction rich in glucan carbohydrate, which potently induces TNF-alpha and macrophage-inflammatory protein-2 generation from alveolar macrophages. Instillation of this purified P. carinii carbohydrate cell wall fraction into healthy rode...

Sarcoidosis, a chronic granulomatous disease of unknown cause, has been linked to several environmental risk factors, among which are some that may favor carbon nanotube formation. Using gene array data, we initially observed that bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells from sarcoidosis patients displayed elevated mRNA of the transcription factor, Twist1, among many M1-associated genes compared to h...

BACKGROUND Non-typeable Haemophilus influenza (NTHi) infection is common in COPD. Corticosteroids can have limited therapeutic effects in COPD patients. NTHi causes corticosteroid insensitive cytokine production from COPD alveolar macrophages. We investigated the mechanisms by which NTHi causes corticosteroid insensitive inflammatory responses, and the effects of NTHi exposure on COPD macrophag...

man tissues and blood cells. In particular, @32adrenergic receptor effects on lymphocytes and gran ulocytes have been probed extensively.' Recently, Liggett2 identified and characterized @32-adrenergic receptors in human alveolar macrophages responding to specific stimulation with an increase of intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). This increase in cAMP has striking inhibitory e...

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare disease of unknown aetiology characterized by accumulations of lipoproteinaceous material within the alveoli. The alveolar macrophages become increasingly foamy, and are thought to have a role in the pathogenesis of PAP. However, the mechanisms of macrophage recruitment are unclear. In the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of four patients with P...