Biologic phenotyping of the human small airway epithelial response to cigarette smoking.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The first changes associated with smoking are in the small airway epithelium (SAE). Given that smoking alters SAE gene expression, but only a fraction of smokers develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we hypothesized that assessment of SAE genome-wide gene expression would permit biologic phenotyping of the smoking response, and that a subset of healthy smokers would have a "COPD-like" SAE transcriptome.

Methodology/principal findings

SAE (10th-12th generation) was obtained via bronchoscopy of healthy nonsmokers, healthy smokers and COPD smokers and microarray analysis was used to identify differentially expressed genes. Individual responsiveness to smoking was quantified with an index representing the % of smoking-responsive genes abnormally expres

SUBMITTER: Tilley AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3145669 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature