Inhibitor of Differentiation 1 Promotes Endothelial Survival in a Bleomycin Model of Lung Injury in Mice

The Id family of genes encodes negative regulators of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors and has been implicated in diverse cellular processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and migration. However, the specific role of Id1 in lung injury has not been investigated. Bleomycin has been widely used to generate animal models of acute lung injury and fibrogenesis. In this study we found that, on bleomycin challenge, Id1 expression was significantly up-regulated in the lungs, predominantly in endothelial cells, as revealed by double immunolabeling and quantitative flow cytometric analysis. Mice with Id1 loss-of-function (Id1−/−) displayed increased vascular permeability and endothelial apoptosis in the lungs after bleomycin-induced injury. Cultured Id1−/− lung microvascular endothelial cells also showed decreased survival when exposed to bleomycin. We detected a decrease in the level of Bcl-2, a primary anti-apoptotic protein, in Id1−/− endothelial cells, suggesting that down-regulated Bcl-2 may promote endothelial apoptosis in the lung. Therefore, we propose that Id1 plays a crucial role in promoting endothelial survival in the adult lung on injury. In addition, bleomycin-exposed Id1−/− mice showed increased lung collagen accumulation and fibrogenesis, suggesting that Id1 up-regulation in the lung may play a critical role in lung homeostasis.