Gene therapy for severe bacterial pneumonia and sepsis.

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On the basis of recent studies dealing with acute lung injury, keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) has been shown to have certain protective effects against various injurious stimuli and to promote epithelial repair. Thus, in this study, we examined whether transient overexpression of KGF in the lung by the intratracheal administration of KGF-expressing adenovirus vector attenuates hyperoxia-induced acute lung injury in mice. The present data show that the adenovirus-mediated transfer of KGF cDNA successfully expressed high level of KGF in airway epithelial cells, and consequently raised significant lung epithelial cell proliferation, improved oxygenation, and decreased mortality. Furthermore, there was minimal vector-associated inflammation. We suggest that KGF gene transduction into lungs is a promising potential treatment for acute lung injury and would be a useful tool for regeneration research.