First published online February 24, 2006
Development 133, 603e (2006)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
First breaths through C/EBP
For preterm babies, respiratory distress syndrome can be a life-threatening
problem – if their respiratory epithelial cells have not differentiated
completely, they cannot make the surfactant lipids and proteins that enable
them to switch smoothly from water to air breathing. On p.
1155, Martis and
co-workers report that the transcription factor C/EBP
is required for
this important transition. The researchers show that deletion of the
Cebpa gene in fetal respiratory epithelial cells causes mice to die
at birth from respiratory failure, and delays the structural and biochemical
maturation of their lungs. Cebpa gene deletion may have these
effects, they suggest, by increasing the expression of Tgfb2, a
growth factor that inhibits lung maturation and the expression of surfactant
proteins. The researchers also show that normal C/EBP expression
depends on the transcription factors TTF1 and FOXA2, and suggest that these
three proteins form a transcriptional network that regulates the genes needed
for lung maturation and surfactant homoeostasis at birth.
Related articles in Development:
- C/EBP is required for lung maturation at birth
- Prithy C. Martis, Jeffrey A. Whitsett, Yan Xu, Anne-Karina T. Perl, Huajing Wan, and Machiko Ikegami
Development 2006 133: 1155-1164.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
