RhoA inhibitor suppresses the production of microvesicles and rescues high ventilation induced lung injury

Microvesicles (MVs) have been extensively identified in various biological fluids including bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), peripheral blood and ascitic fluids. Our previous study showed that MVs are responsible for acute lung injury, but the exact mechanism underlying MVs formation remains poorly understood. In the present study, we investigate the potential role of RhoA/Rock signaling in MVs generation and the biological activity of MVs in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). Our results revealed that high tide ventilation induced super MVs releasing into the lung and subsequently caused lung inflammation. Strikingly, intratracheal instillation of MVs that isolated from highly ventilated mice triggered significant lung inflammation in naive mice. The MVs production is strongly correlated with lung inflammation and the upregulation of RhoA, Rock and phospho-Limk (phosphorylation of Limk is the activated form). RhoA inhibitor decreased the expression of Rock and the phosphorylation of Limk, decreased MVs production and alleviated lung inflammation. Rock inhibitor also decreased the phosphorylation of Limk, decreased MVs production and alleviated lung inflammation. Our data demonstrated that the production of MVs requires RhoA/Rock signaling, and VILI might be potentially prevented by targeting RhoA/Rock signaling pathway.