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Updated: Jul 10, 2026
Refined Murine Model of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Published on: June 17, 2025
Duration-dependent cytoprotective versus inflammatory effects of lung epithelial fibroblast growth factor-7
Jay W Tichelaar1, Scott C Wesselkamper, Supurna Chowdhury
1Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267, USA. Jay.Tichelaar@uc.edu
Abstract:
Fibroblast growth factor-7 (FGF7) is a lung epithelial cell mitogen that is cytoprotective during injury. Transgenic mice that conditionally expressed FGF7 were used to dissect the mechanisms of FGF7 protection during lung injury. FGF7 improved survival when induced 3 days prior to acute lung injury. In contrast, FGF7 caused pulmonary inflammation and lung injury after 7 days or longer. Gene expression analysis of mouse lung mRNA identified mRNAs that contribute to the protective effects of FGF7. FGF7 improved survival during acute lung injury in adult mouse lung after short-term expression, but paradoxically induced inflammation and injury after persistent expression.