Macrophage-derived exosomal TNF-α promotes pulmonary surfactant protein expression in PM2.5-induced acute lung injury

Short-term high-concentration exposure to airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is strongly associated with the risk of acute lung injury (ALI). It has been recently reported that exosomes (Exos) involve in the progression of respiratory diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms by which exosome-mediated intercellular signaling exacerbate PM2.5-induced ALI remains largely unaddressed. In the present study, we firstly investigated the effect of macrophage-derived exosomal tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) on pulmonary surfactant proteins (SPs) expression in epithelial MLE-12 cells after PM2.5 exposure. The higher levels of exosomes in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of PM2.5-induced ALI mice were found. BALF-exosomes significantly up-regulated SPs expression in MLE-12 cells. Moreover, we found that remarkably high expression of TNF-α in exosomes secreted by PM2.5-treated RAW264.7 cells. Exosomal TNF-α promoted thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) activation and SPs expression in MLE-12 cells. Furthermore, intratracheal instillation of macrophage-derived TNF-α-containing exosomes increased epithelial cell SPs expression in the lungs of mice. Taken together, these results suggest that macrophages-secreted exosomal TNF-α can trigger epithelial cell SPs expression, which provides new insight and potential target in the mechanism of epithelial cell dysfunction in PM2.5-induced ALI.