IL-36 receptor deletion aggravates lung injury and mortality in experimental murine sepsis through epithelial

Inflammation resolution is critical for sepsis induced acute lung injury (ALI) recovery. Interleukin-36 receptor (IL-36R) is a potent anti-inflammatory factor. However, its role in ALI resolution remains unclear. We investigated the effects of IL-36R during the ALI resolution process in a murine cecal ligation and puncture (CLP)-induced ALI model. Knockout IL-36R signaling aggravates CLP-induced lung injury, as manifested by elevated bacterial load and increased neutrophils recruitment to the lung. Thereafter, we used IL-36R knockout mice to discern the source cell of IL-36R during ALI. We found that IL-36R is predominantly generated by epithelial cells during the ALI process. Furthermore, we sorted lung epithelial cells on the ALI process. IL-36R-specific loss in epithelial cells leads to apoptosis through NF-κB pathway. Together, our findings identify molecules that are likely involved in sepsis induced lung injury that may inform biomarker and therapeutic development. On the third day of CLP, total RNA was extracted from the lung epithelial cells of 6 mice which were sepsis induced acute lung injury. Three of the mice knockout IL-36R while the other three were wild type mice. Subsequently, RNA-seq analysis was performed to examine gene expression in the lung epithelial cells.