The Lung Macrophage: A Jack of All Trades

MMP-9) activity and thereby limit aberrant elastin degradation, and/or by limiting excessive TGF-b signaling, perhaps by preventing TGF-b activation, or TGF-b release from the extracellular matrix, and/or by limiting pulmonary inflammation.However, none of these possibilities have been experimentally confirmed.In addition, the authors have not considered any direct effects of elafin on the innate and adaptive immune system, recently reviewed by Sallenave (13).A mechanistic explanation for their observations will go a long way to deepen our understanding of the mechanistic basis of BPD, and should be addressed in future studies.