FPR-1 is an important regulator of neutrophil recruitment and a tissue-specific driver of pulmonary fibrosis

Neutrophils are the most abundant inflammatory cells at the earliest stages of wound healing and play important roles in wound repair and fibrosis. Formyl peptide receptor 1 (FPR-1) is abundantly expressed on neutrophils and has been shown to regulate their function, yet the importance of FPR-1 in fibrosis remains ill defined. FPR-1–deficient (fpr1(–/–)) mice were protected from bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis but developed renal and hepatic fibrosis normally. Mechanistically, we observed a failure to effectively recruit neutrophils to the lungs of fpr1(–/–) mice, whereas neutrophil recruitment was unaffected in the liver and kidney. Using an adoptive transfer model we demonstrated that the defect in neutrophil recruitment to the lung was intrinsic to the fpr1(–/–) neutrophils, as C57BL/6 neutrophils were recruited normally to the damaged lung in fpr1(–/–) mice. Finally, C57BL/6 mice in which neutrophils had been depleted were protected from pulmonary fibrosis. In conclusion, FPR-1 and FPR-1 ligands are required for effective neutrophil recruitment to the damaged lung. Failure to recruit neutrophils or depletion of neutrophils protects from pulmonary fibrosis.