Objective To establish a cell culture model in vitro of acute lung injury and investigate the effects of NF-κB p65 on the inflammation and oxidative stress in TNF-α-activated type Ⅱ alveolar epithelial cells. Methods A549 cells were treated with TNF-α ( 10 ng/mL, 24 h) in the absence or presence of NF-κB p65 siRNA ( 50 nmol /L) . RT-PCR and Western blot were performed to analyze the silence efficiency of RNAi targeting NF-κB p65. The contents of IL-1β, IL-4, and IL-6 in the culture supernatant were measured by ELISA. The concentration of MDA and SOD were detected by colorimetric method. The survival rate of cell was assessed by the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium ( MTT) assay. Results P65 RNAi significantly decreased the transcription and translation of NF-κB p65 induced by TNF-α( P lt; 0. 05) . The levels of IL-1β, IL-4, and IL-6 were significantly lower in the supernatants of A549 cells pretransfected with NF-κB p65 siRNA ( P lt;0. 05) , while the concentration of MDA markedly decreased ( P lt; 0. 05) , and the activation of SOD increased dramatically ( P lt; 0. 05) . Consequently, the survival rate of A549 in the p65 siRNA group improved( P lt; 0. 05) . Conclusions NF-κB p65 plays a key role in the oxidative stress induced by TNF-α. NF-κB p65 silencing can down-regulate the inflammation and oxidative stress induced by TNF-αand enhance the proliferation of alveolar epithelial cells.