Migration of CD11b+ accessory cells during murine lung regeneration

In many mammalian species, the removal of one lung leads to growth of the remaining lung to near-baseline levels. In studying post-pneumonectomy mice, we used morphometric measures to demonstrate neoalveolarization within 21 days of pneumonectomy. Of note, the detailed histology during this period demonstrated no significant pulmonary inflammation. To identify occult blood-borne cells, we used a parabiotic model (wild-type/GFP) of post-pneumonectomy lung growth. Flow cytometry of post-pneumonectomy lung digests demonstrated a rapid increase in the number of cells expressing the hematopoietic membrane molecule CD11b; 64.5% of the entire GFP(+) population were CD11b(+). Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that the CD11b(+) peripheral blood cells migrated into both the interstitial tissue and alveolar airspace compartments. Pneumonectomy in mice deficient in CD11b (CD18(-/-) mutants) demonstrated near-absent leukocyte migration into the airspace compartment (p<.001) and impaired lung growth as demonstrated by lung weight (p<.05) and lung volume (p<.05). Transcriptional activity of the partitioned CD11b(+) cells demonstrated significantly increased transcription of Angpt1, Il1b, and Mmp8, Mmp9, Ncam1, Sele, Sell, Selp in the alveolar airspace and Adamts2, Ecm1, Egf, Mmp7, Npr1, Tgfb2 in the interstitial tissue (>4-fold regulation; p<.05). These data suggest that blood-borne CD11b(+) cells represent a population of accessory cells contributing to post-pneumonectomy lung growth.