Down-regulation of the notch pathway in human airway epithelium in association with smoking and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

The airway epithelium of smokers is subject to a variety of mechanisms of injury with consequent modulation of epithelial regeneration and disordered differentiation. Several signaling pathways, including the Notch pathway, control epithelial differentiation in lung morphogenesis, but little is known about the role of these pathways in adults.

Objectives

We tested the hypotheses that Notch-related genes are expressed in the normal nonsmoker small airway epithelium of human adults, and that Notch-related gene expression is down-regulated in healthy smokers and smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods

We used microarray technology to evaluate the expression of 55 Notch-related genes in the small airway epithelium of nonsmokers. We use

SUBMITTER: Tilley AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2654975 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature