Airway Epithelial Cells Drive Airway Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype Switching to the Proliferative and Pro-inflammatory Phenotype.

ABSTRACT: The increased mass of airway smooth muscle (ASM) in the airways of asthmatic patients may contribute to the pathology of this disease by increasing the capacity for airway narrowing. Evidence for the airway epithelium as a participant in ASM remodeling is accruing. To investigate mechanisms by which airway epithelial cells induce ASM cell (ASMC) proliferation, we have employed a co-culture model to explore markers of ASMC proliferative phenotype. Co-culture with epithelial cells led to incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine into ASMCs, indicating augmented proliferation and an associated increase in mRNA of the pro-proliferative co-transcription factor Elk1. Although the mitogen heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF) was augmented in the co-culture supernatant, the ASMC epidermal gro

SUBMITTER: O'Sullivan MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8290262 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature