Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Supports a Pulmonary Niche that Promotes Type 3 Innate Lymphoid Cell Development in Newborn Lungs.

Type 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) are critical for lung defense against bacterial pneumonia in the neonatal period, but the signals that guide pulmonary ILC3 development remain unclear. Here, we demonstrated that pulmonary ILC3s descended from ILC precursors that populated a niche defined by fibroblasts in the developing lung. Alveolar fibroblasts produced insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), which instructed expansion and maturation of pulmonary ILC precursors. Conditional ablation of IGF1 in alveolar fibroblasts or deletion of the IGF-1 receptor from ILC precursors interrupted ILC3 biogenesis and rendered newborn mice susceptible to pneumonia. Premature infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, characterized by interrupted postnatal alveolar development and increased morbidity to respiratory infections, had reduced IGF1 concentrations and pulmonary ILC3 numbers. These findings indicate that the newborn period is a critical window in pulmonary immunity development, and disrupted lung development in prematurely born infants may have enduring effects on host resistance to respiratory infections.

Combined administration of anti-IL-13 and anti-IL-17A at individually sub-therapeutic doses limits asthma-like symptoms in a mouse model of Th2/Th17 high asthma.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated that Th2 responses have the ability to antagonize Th17 responses. In mouse models of allergic asthma, blockade of Th2-effector cytokines results in elaboration of Th17 responses and associated increases in pulmonary neutrophilia. While these can be controlled by simultaneous blockade of Th17-associated effector cytokines, clinical trials of anti-IL-17/IL-17RA blocking therapies have demonstrated increased of risk of bacterial and fungal infections. Identification of minimally effective doses of cytokine-blocking therapies with the goal of reducing the potential emergence of infection-related complications is a translationally relevant goal. OBJECTIVE: In the current report, we examine whether combined blockade of IL-13 and IL-17A, at individually sub-therapeutic levels, can limit the development of allergic asthma while sparing expression of IL-17A-associated anti-microbial effectors. METHODS: House dust mite was given intratracheally to A/J mice. Anti-IL-13 and anti-IL-17A antibodies were administered individually, or concomitantly at sub-therapeutic doses. Airway hyper-reactivity, lung inflammation, magnitude of Th2- and Th17-associated cytokine production and expression of IL-13- and IL-17A-induced genes in the lungs was assessed. RESULTS: Initial dosing studies identified sub-therapeutic levels of IL-13 and IL-17A blocking mAbs that have a limited effect on asthma parameters and do not impair responses to microbial products or infection. Subsequent studies demonstrated that combined sub-therapeutic dosing with IL-13 and IL-17A blocking mAbs resulted in significant improvement in airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and expression of IL-13-induced gene expression. Importantly, these doses neither exacerbated nor inhibited production of Th17-associated cytokines, or IL-17A-associated gene expression. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that combining blockade of individual Th2 and Th17 effector cytokines, even at individually sub-therapeutic levels, may be sufficient to limit disease development while preserving important anti-microbial pathways. Such a strategy may therefore have reduced potential for adverse events associated with blockade of these pathways.

Microbiota-derived inosine programs protective CD8+ T cell responses against influenza in newborns.

The immunological defects causing susceptibility to severe viral respiratory infections due to early-life dysbiosis remain ill-defined. Here, we show that influenza virus susceptibility in dysbiotic infant mice is caused by CD8+ T cell hyporesponsiveness and diminished persistence as tissue-resident memory cells. We describe a previously unknown role for nuclear factor interleukin 3 (NFIL3) in repression of memory differentiation of CD8+ T cells in dysbiotic mice involving epigenetic regulation of T cell factor 1 (TCF 1) expression. Pulmonary CD8+ T cells from dysbiotic human infants share these transcriptional signatures and functional phenotypes. Mechanistically, intestinal inosine was reduced in dysbiotic human infants and newborn mice, and inosine replacement reversed epigenetic dysregulation of Tcf7 and increased memory differentiation and responsiveness of pulmonary CD8+ T cells. Our data unveils new developmental layers controlling immune cell activation and identifies microbial metabolites that may be used therapeutically in the future to protect at-risk newborns.

Anti-CELA1 antibody KF4 prevents emphysema by inhibiting stretch-mediated remodeling.

There are no therapies to prevent emphysema progression. Chymotrypsin-like elastase 1 (CELA1) is a serine protease that binds and cleaves lung elastin in a stretch-dependent manner and is required for emphysema in a murine antisense oligonucleotide model of α-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. This study tested whether CELA1 is important in strain-mediated lung matrix destruction in non-AAT-deficient emphysema and the efficacy of CELA1 neutralization. Airspace simplification was quantified after administration of tracheal porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE), after 8 months of cigarette smoke (CS) exposure, and in aging. In all 3 models, Cela1-/- mice had less emphysema and preserved lung elastin despite increased lung immune cells. A CELA1-neutralizing antibody was developed (KF4), and it inhibited stretch-inducible lung elastase in ex vivo mouse and human lung and immunoprecipitated CELA1 from human lung. In mice, systemically administered KF4 penetrated lung tissue in a dose-dependent manner and 5 mg/kg weekly prevented emphysema in the PPE model with both pre- and postinjury initiation and in the CS model. KF4 did not increase lung immune cells. CELA1-mediated lung matrix remodeling in response to strain is an important contributor to postnatal airspace simplification, and we believe that KF4 could be developed as a lung matrix-stabilizing therapy in emphysema.

Macrophage-stimulating protein and calcium homeostasis in zebrafish.

To systematically identify novel gene functions essential for osteogenesis and skeletal mineralization, we performed a forward genetic mutagenesis screen in zebrafish and isolated a mutant that showed delayed skeletal mineralization. Analysis of the mutant phenotype in an osterix:nuclear-GFP transgenic background demonstrated that mutants contain osterix-expressing osteoblasts comparable to wild-type embryos. Positional cloning revealed a premature stop mutation in the macrophage-stimulating protein (msp) gene, predicted to result in a biologically inactive protein. Analysis of the embryonic expression pattern for the receptor for Msp, Ron, shows specific expression in the corpuscles of Stannius, a teleost-specific organ that produces stanniocalcin, a pivotal hormone in fish calcium homeostasis. Knockdown of Ron resulted in identical phenotypes as observed in msp mutants. Msp mutant embryos could be rescued by excess calcium. Consistent with a role for Msp/Ron in calcium homeostasis, calcium-regulating factors, such as pth1, pth2, stc1l, and trpv5/6 were significantly affected in msp mutant larvae. While Msp and Ron have previously been shown to play a critical role in a wide variety of biological processes, we introduce here the Msp/Ron signaling axis as a previously unappreciated player in calcium homeostasis and embryonic skeletal mineralization.

Estrogen receptor alpha deletion enhances the metastatic phenotype of Ron overexpressing mammary tumors in mice.

BACKGROUND: The receptor tyrosine kinase family includes many transmembrane proteins with diverse physiological and pathophysiological functions. The involvement of tyrosine kinase signaling in promoting a more aggressive tumor phenotype within the context of chemotherapeutic evasion is gaining recognition. The Ron receptor is a tyrosine kinase receptor that has been implicated in the progression of breast cancer and evasion of tamoxifen therapy. RESULTS: Here, we report that Ron expression is correlated with in situ, estrogen receptor alpha (ERα)-positive tumors, and is higher in breast tumors following neoadjuvant tamoxifen therapy. We also demonstrate that the majority of mammary tumors isolated from transgenic mice with mammary specific-Ron overexpression (MMTV-Ron mice), exhibit appreciable ER expression. Moreover, genetic-ablation of ERα, in the context of Ron overexpression, leads to delayed mammary tumor initiation and growth, but also results in an increased metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Ron receptor overexpression is associated with ERα-positive human and murine breast tumors. In addition, loss of ERα on a Ron overexpressing background in mice leads to the development of breast tumors which grow slower but which exhibit more metastasis and suggests that targeting of ERα, as in the case of tamoxifen therapy, may reduce the growth of Ron overexpressing breast cancers but may cause these tumors to be more metastatic.

Ron receptor regulates Kupffer cell-dependent cytokine production and hepatocyte survival following endotoxin exposure in mice.

UNLABELLED: Previous studies demonstrated that targeted deletion of the Ron receptor tyrosine kinase (TK) domain in mice leads to marked hepatocyte protection in a well-characterized model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute liver failure in D-galactosamine (GalN)-sensitized mice. Hepatocyte protection in TK-/- mice was observed despite paradoxically elevated serum levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). To understand the role of Ron in the liver, purified populations of Kupffer cells and hepatocytes from wildtype (TK+/+) and TK-/- mice were studied. Utilizing quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), we demonstrated that Ron is expressed in these cell types. Moreover, we also recapitulated the protected hepatocyte phenotype and exaggerated cytokine production observed in the TK-/- mice in vivo through the use of purified cultured cells ex vivo. We show that isolated TK-/- Kupffer cells produce increased levels of TNF-α and select cytokines compared to TK+/+ cells following LPS stimulation. We also show that conditioned media from LPS-treated TK-/- Kupffer cells was more toxic to hepatocytes than control media, suggesting the exaggerated levels of cytokines produced from the TK-/- Kupffer cells are detrimental to wildtype hepatocytes. In addition, we observed that TK-/- hepatocytes were more resistant to cell death compared to TK+/+ hepatocytes, suggesting that Ron functions in both the epithelial and inflammatory cell compartments to regulate acute liver injury. These findings were confirmed in vivo in mice with hepatocyte and macrophage cell-type-specific conditional Ron deletions. Mice with Ron loss selectively in hepatocytes exhibited less liver damage and increased survival compared to mice with Ron loss in macrophages. CONCLUSION: We dissected cell-type-specific roles for Ron such that this receptor modulates cytokine production from Kupffer cells and inhibits hepatocyte survival in response to injury.

The balance between protective and pathogenic immune responses to pneumonia in the neonatal lung is enforced by gut microbiota.

Although modern clinical practices such as cesarean sections and perinatal antibiotics have improved infant survival, treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics alters intestinal microbiota and causes dysbiosis. Infants exposed to perinatal antibiotics have an increased likelihood of life-threatening infections, including pneumonia. Here, we investigated how the gut microbiota sculpt pulmonary immune responses, promoting recovery and resolution of infection in newborn rhesus macaques. Early-life antibiotic exposure interrupted the maturation of intestinal commensal bacteria and disrupted the developmental trajectory of the pulmonary immune system, as assessed by single-cell proteomic and transcriptomic analyses. Early-life antibiotic exposure rendered newborn macaques more susceptible to bacterial pneumonia, concurrent with increases in neutrophil senescence and hyperinflammation, broad inflammatory cytokine signaling, and macrophage dysfunction. This pathogenic reprogramming of pulmonary immunity was further reflected by a hyperinflammatory signature in all pulmonary immune cell subsets coupled with a global loss of tissue-protective, homeostatic pathways in the lungs of dysbiotic newborns. Fecal microbiota transfer was associated with partial correction of the broad immune maladaptations and protection against severe pneumonia. These data demonstrate the importance of intestinal microbiota in programming pulmonary immunity and support the idea that gut microbiota promote the balance between pathways driving tissue repair and inflammatory responses associated with clinical recovery from infection in infants. Our results highlight a potential role for microbial transfer for immune support in these at-risk infants.

A potent myeloid response is rapidly activated in the lungs of premature Rhesus macaques exposed to intra-uterine inflammation.

Up to 40% of preterm births are associated with histological chorioamnionitis (HCA), which leads to elevated levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and microbial products in the amniotic fluid, which come in contact with fetal lungs. Yet, fetal pulmonary immune responses to such exposure remain poorly characterized. To address this gap, we used our established HCA model, in which pregnant Rhesus macaques receive intraamniotic (IA) saline or LPS. IA LPS induced a potent and rapid myeloid cell response in fetal lungs, dominated by neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages. Infiltrating and resident myeloid cells exhibited transcriptional profiles consistent with exposure to TLR ligands, as well as cytokines, notably IL-1 and TNFα. Although simultaneous, in vivo blockade of IL-1 and TNFα signaling did not prevent the inflammatory cell recruitment, it blunted the lung overall inflammatory state reducing communication between, and activation of, infiltrating immune cells. Our data indicate that the fetal innate immune system can mount a rapid multi-faceted pulmonary immune response to in utero exposure to inflammation. These data provide mechanistic insights into the association between HCA and the postnatal lung morbidities of the premature infant and highlight therapeutic potential of inflammatory blockade in the fetus.

Inflammatory blockade prevents injury to the developing pulmonary gas exchange surface in preterm primates.

Perinatal inflammatory stress is associated with early life morbidity and lifelong consequences for pulmonary health. Chorioamnionitis, an inflammatory condition affecting the placenta and fluid surrounding the developing fetus, affects 25 to 40% of preterm births. Severe chorioamnionitis with preterm birth is associated with significantly increased risk of pulmonary disease and secondary infections in childhood, suggesting that fetal inflammation may markedly alter the development of the lung. Here, we used intra-amniotic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge to induce experimental chorioamnionitis in a prenatal rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) model that mirrors structural and temporal aspects of human lung development. Inflammatory injury directly disrupted the developing gas exchange surface of the primate lung, with extensive damage to alveolar structure, particularly the close association and coordinated differentiation of alveolar type 1 pneumocytes and specialized alveolar capillary endothelium. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis defined a multicellular alveolar signaling niche driving alveologenesis that was extensively disrupted by perinatal inflammation, leading to a loss of gas exchange surface and alveolar simplification, with notable resemblance to chronic lung disease in newborns. Blockade of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1ß and tumor necrosis factor-α ameliorated LPS-induced inflammatory lung injury by blunting stromal responses to inflammation and modulating innate immune activation in myeloid cells, restoring structural integrity and key signaling networks in the developing alveolus. These data provide new insight into the pathophysiology of developmental lung injury and suggest that modulating inflammation is a promising therapeutic approach to prevent fetal consequences of chorioamnionitis.

Early life antibiotic exposure and host health: Role of the microbiota-immune interaction.

The neonatal population is at high risk for infections secondary to a unique, developing immune system. While a multitude of factors direct the development of the immune system, the role of environmental exposures on the microbiota may play a critical and potentially modifiable role. Recent evidence suggests that the disruption of the microbiota through the use of antibiotics not only leads to an immediately increased risk for neonatal complications but also long-term health issues related to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The exact cellular and molecular mechanisms behind these associations between the microbiota and neonatal outcomes are still under investigation. This review will examine the mechanistic interactions between the microbiota and the immune system, particularly in early life, along with how antibiotic mediated aberrations of the microbiome potentially lead to disease.

Intestinal commensal bacteria mediate lung mucosal immunity and promote resistance of newborn mice to infection.

Immature mucosal defenses contribute to increased susceptibility of newborn infants to pathogens. Sparse knowledge of age-dependent changes in mucosal immunity has hampered improvements in neonatal morbidity because of infections. We report that exposure of neonatal mice to commensal bacteria immediately after birth is required for a robust host defense against bacterial pneumonia, the leading cause of death in newborn infants. This crucial window was characterized by an abrupt influx of interleukin-22 (IL-22)-producing group 3 innate lymphoid cells (IL-22+ILC3) into the lungs of newborn mice. This influx was dependent on sensing of commensal bacteria by intestinal mucosal dendritic cells. Disruption of postnatal commensal colonization or selective depletion of dendritic cells interrupted the migratory program of lung IL-22+ILC3 and made the newborn mice more susceptible to pneumonia, which was reversed by transfer of commensal bacteria after birth. Thus, the resistance of newborn mice to pneumonia relied on commensal bacteria-directed ILC3 influx into the lungs, which mediated IL-22-dependent host resistance to pneumonia during this developmental window. These data establish that postnatal colonization by intestinal commensal bacteria is pivotal in the development of the lung defenses of newborns.

Generation of eosinophils from cryopreserved murine bone marrow cells.

Eosinophils are produced in the bone marrow from CD34+ eosinophil lineage-committed progenitors, whose levels in the bone marrow are elevated in a variety of human diseases. These findings suggest that increased eosinophil lineage-committed progenitor production is an important process in disease-associated eosinophilia. The pathways central to the biology of the eosinophil lineage-committed progenitor remain largely unknown. Thus, developing new methods to investigate the regulators of eosinophil lineage-committed progenitor differentiation is needed to identify potential therapeutic targets to specifically inhibit eosinophil production. We tested cytokine regimens to optimize liquid cultures for the study of eosinophil lineage-committed progenitor and eosinophil precursor differentiation into mature eosinophils. Stem cell factor (but not fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand) was required for optimal yield of eosinophils. Furthermore, we evaluated the effects of cell preservation and scale on the culture, successfully culturing functional eosinophils from fresh and frozen murine bone marrow cells and in a standard-sized and 96-well culture format. In summary, we have developed an adaptable culture system that yields functionally competent eosinophils from murine low-density bone marrow cells and whose cytokine regime includes expansion of progenitors with stem cell factor alone with subsequent differentiation with interleukin 5.

Myeloid-specific expression of Ron receptor kinase promotes prostate tumor growth.

Ron receptor kinase (MST1R) is important in promoting epithelial tumorigenesis, but the potential contributions of its specific expression in stromal cells have not been examined. Herein, we show that the Ron receptor is expressed in mouse and human stromal cells of the prostate tumor microenvironment. To test the significance of stromal Ron expression, prostate cancer cells were orthotopically implanted into the prostates of either wild-type or Ron tyrosine kinase deficient (TK(-/-); Mst1r(-/-)) hosts. In TK(-/-) hosts, prostate cancer cell growth was significantly reduced as compared with tumor growth in TK(+/+) hosts. Prostate tumors in TK(-/-) hosts exhibited an increase in tumor cell apoptosis, macrophage infiltration and altered cytokine expression. Reciprocal bone marrow transplantation studies and myeloid cell-specific ablation of Ron showed that loss of Ron in myeloid cells is sufficient to inhibit prostate cancer cell growth. Interestingly, depletion of CD8(+) T cells, but not CD4(+) T cells, was able to restore prostate tumor growth in hosts devoid of myeloid-specific Ron expression. These studies show a critical role for the Ron receptor in the tumor microenvironment, whereby Ron loss in tumor-associated macrophages inhibits prostate cancer cell growth, at least in part, by derepressing the activity of CD8(+) T cells.

Conditional deletion of ß-catenin in mammary epithelial cells of Ron receptor, Mst1r, overexpressing mice alters mammary tumorigenesis.

The Ron receptor tyrosine kinase (macrophage stimulating 1 receptor) is overexpressed in approximately 50% of human breast cancers. Transgenic mice overexpressing Ron in the mammary epithelium [mouse mammary tumor virus driven (MMTV)-Ron expressing mice] develop mammary tumors that exhibit up-regulation of ß-catenin and ß-catenin target genes. ß-Catenin has been shown to be a mediator of mammary tumorigenesis in various breast cancer models, including downstream of Ron. However, the in vivo impact of a conditional loss of ß-catenin downstream of Ron receptor overexpression on the onset, growth, turnover, and metastasis of mammary tumors has not been addressed. To determine the significance of ß-catenin in the context of Ron overexpression, we conditionally deleted ß-catenin in mammary epithelial cells of MMTV-Ron mice. Conditional deletion of ß-catenin in the mammary epithelium, through the use of whey acidic protein (WAP)-Cre transgenic mice, significantly delayed the onset of mammary hyperplastic nodules, the presence of palpable mammary tumors, and ultimately decreased liver metastasis. ß-Catenin loss in this model was also associated with decreased expression of cyclin D1. In total, these studies support an important role for ß-catenin downstream of Ron receptor signaling during the development of mammary tumorigenesis.

Ron receptor overexpression in the murine prostate induces prostate intraepithelial neoplasia.

Previous studies have shown that the Ron receptor is overexpressed in prostate cancer and Ron expression increases with disease severity in humans and the mouse TRAMP model. Here, the causal role of Ron overexpression in the murine prostate was examined in the development and progression of prostate cancer. Transgenic mouse strains were generated which selectively overexpressed Ron in the prostate epithelium and prostate histopathology was evaluated and compared to wild type controls. Ron overexpression led to the development of prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (mPIN) with local invasion and was associated with increases in prostate cell proliferation and decreases in cell death.

Ron receptor deficient alveolar myeloid cells exacerbate LPS-induced acute lung injury in the murine lung.

Previous studies have shown that the Ron receptor tyrosine kinase is an important regulator of the acute lung inflammatory response induced by intranasal administration of bacterial LPS. Compared to wild-type mice, complete loss of the Ron receptor in all cell types in vivo was associated with increased lung damage as determined by histological analyses and several markers of lung injury including increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α. Tumor-necrosis factor-α is a multifunctional cytokine secreted by macrophages, which plays a major role in inflammation and is a central mediator of several disease states including rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis. Based on increased TNF-α production observed in the Ron-deficient mice, we hypothesized that Ron receptor function in the inflammatory cell compartment is essential for the regulating lung injury in vivo. To test this hypothesis, we generated myeloid lineage-specific Ron-deficient mice. In this study, we report that loss of Ron signaling selectively in myeloid cells results in increased lung injury following intranasal administration of LPS as measured by increases in TNF-α production, ensuing neutrophil accumulation and increased lung histopathology. These findings corroborate the role of Ron receptor tyrosine kinase as a negative regulator of inflammation and further demonstrate the in vivo significance of Ron signaling selectively in myeloid cells as a major regulator of this response in vivo. These data authenticate Ron as a potential target in innate immunity and TNF-α-mediated pathologies.

Targeting tyrosine phosphorylation of PCNA inhibits prostate cancer growth.

The proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a critical protein required for DNA replication in proliferating cells including cancer cells. However, direct inhibition of PCNA in cancer cells has been difficult due to the lack of targetable sites. We previously reported that phosphorylation of tyrosine 211 (Y211) on PCNA is important for the proliferative function of PCNA when this protein is associated with the chromatin in cancer cells. Here, we show that the Y211 phosphorylation of PCNA is a frequent event in advanced prostate cancer. To explore the potential of this signaling event in inhibition of cancer cell growth, we used a synthetic peptide, the Y211F peptide, which when present inhibits phosphorylation of Y211 on endogenous PCNA. Treatment with this peptide, but not a scrambled control peptide, resulted in S-phase arrest, inhibition of DNA synthesis, and enhanced cell death in a panel of human prostate cancer cell lines. In addition, treatment with the Y211F peptide led to decreased tumor growth in PC3-derived xenograft tumors in vivo in nude mice. Our study shows for the first time that PCNA phosphorylation at Y211 is a frequent and biologically important signaling event in prostate cancer. This study also shows a proof of concept that Y211 phosphorylation of PCNA may be used as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer cells, including cells of advanced cancers that are refractory to standard hormonal therapies.

Ron receptor tyrosine kinase negatively regulates TNFalpha production in alveolar macrophages by inhibiting NF-kappaB activity and Adam17 production.

The Ron receptor tyrosine kinase (TK) plays a regulatory role in the inflammatory response to acute lung injury induced by intranasal administration of bacterial LPS. Previously, we have shown that mice with a targeted deletion of the TK signaling domain of the Ron receptor exhibited more severe lung injury in response to intranasal LPS administration as evidenced by an increased leakage of albumin in the lungs and a greater thickening of the alveolar septa compared with wild-type mice. In addition, lung injury in the Ron TK-deficient (TK(-/-)) mice was associated with increased activation of the transcription factor, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), and significantly increased intrapulmonary expression of TNFalpha. TNFalpha, a multifunctional proinflammatory cytokine, is a central mediator in several disease states, including rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis. On the basis of the observation that TNFalpha production is increased in the Ron TK-/- mice and that macrophages are a major source of this cytokine, we hypothesized that the alterations observed in the Ron TK(-/-) mice may be due, in part, to Ron signaling, specifically in alveolar macrophages. To test this hypothesis, we used the wild-type and Ron TK(-/-) primary alveolar macrophages and the murine alveolar macrophage cell line, MH-S, to examine the effects of Ron activation on LPS-induced TNFalpha production and NF-kappaB activity. Here, we reported that Ron is expressed on alveolar macrophages and MH-S cells. Activation of Ron by its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor-like protein, decreases TNFalpha production in alveolar macrophages after LPS challenge. Decreased TNFalpha is associated with hepatocyte growth factor-like protein-induced decreases in NF-kappaB activation and increases in the NF-kappaB inhibitory protein, IkappaB. We also provided the first evidence for Ron as a negative regulator of Adam17, the metalloprotease involved in TNFalpha processing. These results indicate that Ron plays a critical role in regulation of alveolar macrophage signaling and validates this receptor as a target in TNFalpha-mediated pulmonary pathologies.