Additional comparison with old mice revealed that global aging causes a much greater severity in ALI than Trf1 deletion in lung cells.The findings demonstrate that telomere damage-mediated senescence in AEII cells promotes inflammation in the late exudative phase of ALI, while Trf1 deletion in macrophages did not cause an aggravation of ALI. The gene discussed is TERF1; the disease is acute respiratory distress syndrome.