Targeted gene disruption reveals the role of the cysteinyl leukotriene 2 receptor in increased vascular permeability and in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice.

The cysteinyl leukotrienes (cys-LTs) mediate both acute and chronic inflammatory responses in mice, as demonstrated by the attenuation of the IgE/antigen-mediated increase in microvascular permeability and of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, respectively, in a strain with targeted disruption of leukotriene C(4) synthase to prevent cys-LT synthesis. Our earlier finding that the acute, but not the chronic, injury was attenuated in a strain with targeted disruption of the cysteinyl leukotriene 1 (CysLT(1)) receptor suggested that the chronic injury might be mediated through the CysLT(2) receptor. Thus, we generated CysLT(2) receptor-deficient mice by targeted gene disruption. These mice developed normally and were fertile. The increased vascular permeability associated with IgE-dependent passive cutaneous anaphylaxis was significantly reduced in CysLT(2) receptor-null mice as compared with wild-type mice, whereas plasma protein extravasation in response to zymosan A-induced peritoneal inflammation was not altered. Alveolar septal thickening after intratracheal injection of bleomycin, characterized by interstitial infiltration with macrophages and fibroblasts and the accumulation of collagen fibers, was significantly reduced in CysLT(2) receptor-null mice as compared with the wild-type mice. The amounts of cys-LTs in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid after bleomycin injection were similar in the CysLT(2) receptor-null mice and the wild-type mice. Thus, in response to a particular pathobiologic event the CysLT(2) receptor can mediate an increase in vascular permeability in some tissues or promote chronic pulmonary inflammation with fibrosis.