Vv. Kalinichenko et al., Defects in pulmonary vasculature and perinatal lung hemorrhage in mice heterozygous null for the Forkhead Box f1 transcription factor, DEVELOP BIO, 235(2), 2001, pp. 489-506
Decreased pulmonary expression of Forkhead Box f1 (Foxf1) transcription fac
tor was associated with lethal alveolar hemorrhage in 55% of the Foxf1 +/-
newborn mice. The severity of the pulmonary abnormalities correlates with t
he levels of Foxf1 mRNA, Defects in alveolarization and vasculogenesis were
observed in subsets of the Foxf1 +/- mice with relatively low levels of ex
pression from the normal Foxf1 allele, Lung hemorrhage was coincident with
disruption of the mesenchymal-epithelial cell interfaces in the alveolar an
d bronchiolar regions of the lung parenchyma and was associated with increa
sed apoptosis and reduced surfactant protein B (SP-B) expression. Finally,
the lung defect associated with the Foxf1 +/- mutation was accompanied by r
educed expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the VEGF re
ceptor 2 (Flk-1), bone morphogenetic protein 4 (Bmp-4), and the transcripti
on factors of the Brachyury T-Box family (Tbx2-Tbx5) and Lung Kruppel-like
Factor. Reduction in the level of Foxf1 caused neonatal pulmonary hemorrhag
e and abnormalities in alveologenesis, implicating this transcription facto
r in the regulation of mesenchyme-epithelial interaction critical for lung
morphogenesis. (C) 2001 Academic Press