EXPRESSION OF CD44 ISOFORMS DURING BLEOMYCIN-OR RADIATION-INDUCED PULMONARY FIBROSIS IN RATS AND MINIPIGS

The distribution of CD44s and CD44v molecules in normal and injured lu ng tissue of rats and minipigs was studied by examining the immunohist ochemical binding of monoclonal antibodies against CD44 isoforms. We s howed that the expression of CD44v and CD44s varies greatly among diff erent pulmonary fibrosis samples and that some tissues express either enhanced expression of CD44s, particularly in the interstitium and on alveolar macrophages, or very low levels of CD44v in the alveolar epit helium. Normal type II pneumocytes expressed the CD44s and CD44v molec ules at the basolateral aspect of the cell. Such localisation favours a role for CD44 in epithelial cell-fibroblast interaction during lung development and repair.