Akt2 deficiency as a therapeutic strategy protects against acute lung injury.

Evaluation of: Vergadi E, Vaporidi K, Theodorakis EE et al. Akt2 deficiency protects from acute lung injury via alternative macrophage activation and miR-146a induction in mice. J. Immunol. 192, 394-406 (2013). Acute respiratory distress syndrome currently has limited effective treatments; however, recent evidence suggests that modulation of alveolar macrophage responses may be an effective method for protection or repair of lung injury. Vergadi et al. are the first to demonstrate that depletion of Akt2 kinase and microRNA-146a induction in mice resulted in polarization of alveolar macrophages towards an M2 activation phenotype and resulted in less severe injury following acid-induced lung injury. However, this M2 polarization also resulted in increased lung bacterial load following infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.