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J. Exp. Med.,
Volume 189, Number 2, January 18, 1999 341-346
By



From the * Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, and
the To study the biologic role of migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a pleiotropic cytokine, we
generated a mouse strain lacking MIF by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. Analysis of
the role of MIF during sepsis showed that MIF
Ina Sue Perlmutter Laboratory, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston,
Massachusetts 02115
/
mice were resistant to the lethal effects of
high dose bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin B (SEB) with
D-galactosamine and had lower plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor
(TNF-
) than did
wild-type mice, but normal levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10. When stimulated with LPS and interferon
, macrophages from MIF
/
mice showed diminished production of TNF-
,
normal IL-6 and IL-12, and increased production of nitric oxide. MIF
/
animals cleared
gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa instilled into the trachea better than did wild-type mice and had diminished neutrophil accumulation in their bronchoalveolar fluid compared to the wild-type mice. Thioglycollate elicited peritoneal exudates in uninfected MIF
/
mice, but showed normal neutrophil accumulation. Finally, the findings of enhanced resistance
to P. aeruginosa and resistance to endotoxin-induced lethal shock suggest that the counteraction or neutralization of MIF may serve as an adjunct therapy in sepsis.
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