Targeting CEBPA to restore cellular identity and tissue homeostasis in pulmonary fibrosis

Fibrosis in the lung is thought to be driven by epithelial cell dysfunction and aberrant cell-cell interactions. Unveiling the molecular mechanisms of cellular plasticity and cell-cell interactions is imperative to elucidating lung regenerative capacity and aberrant repair in pulmonary fibrosis. By mining publicly available RNA-Seq data sets, we identified loss of CCAAT enhancer-binding protein alpha (CEBPA) as a candidate contributor to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We used conditional KO mice, scRNA-Seq, lung organoids, small-molecule inhibition, and potentially novel gene manipulation methods to investigate the role of CEBPA in lung fibrosis and repair. Long-term (6 months or more) of Cebpa loss in AT2 cells caused spontaneous fibrosis and increased susceptibility to bleomycin-induced fibrosis. Cebpa knockout (KO) in these mice significantly decreased AT2 cell numbers in the lung and reduced expression of surfactant homeostasis genes, while increasing inflammatory cell recruitment as well as upregulating S100a8/a9 in AT2 cells. In vivo treatment with an S100A8/A9 inhibitor alleviated experimental lung fibrosis. Restoring CEBPA expression in lung organoids ex vivo and during experimental lung fibrosis in vivo rescued CEBPA deficiency-mediated phenotypes. Our study establishes a direct mechanistic link between CEBPA repression, impaired AT2 cell identity, disrupted tissue homeostasis, and lung fibrosis.