Itaconate controls the severity of pulmonary fibrosis

Authors: Patricia P. Ogger, Gesa J. Albers, Richard Hewitt, Brendan O’Sullivan, Joseph E. Powell, Emily Calamita, Poonam Ghai, Simone A. Walker, Peter McErlean, Peter Saunders, Shaun Kingston, Philip L. Molyneaux, John M. Halket, Robert Gray, Daniel C. Chambers, Toby M. Maher, Clare M. Lloyd, Adam J. Byrne - Science Immunology 2020 cited by 153

tissue-resident AMs compared with WT, and adoptive transfer of WT monocyte-recruited AMs rescued mice from disease phenotype. Culture of lung fibroblasts with itaconate decreased proliferation and wound healing capacity, and inhaled itaconate was protective in mice in vivo. Collectively, these data identify itaconate as critical for controlling the severity of lung fibrosis, and targeting this pathway may be a viable therapeutic strategy.