Pulmonary Neuroendocrine Cells Secrete γ-Aminobutyric Acid to Induce Goblet Cell Hyperplasia in Primate Models.

ABSTRACT: Mucus overproduction is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in asthma. Mucus overproduction is induced by orchestrated actions of multiple factors that include inflammatory cytokines and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA is produced only by pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNECs) in the mouse lung. Recent studies in a neonatal mouse model of allergic inflammation have shown that PNECs play an essential role in mucus overproduction by GABA hypersecretion. Whether PNECs mediate dysregulated GABA signaling for mucus overproduction in asthma is unknown. In this study, we characterized the cellular source of GABA in the lungs of nonhuman primates and humans and assessed GABA secretion and signaling in primate disease models. We found that like in mice, PNECs were the major source of GA

SUBMITTER: Barrios J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6543741 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature