Original articles: Basic and clinical immunologyProtease-dependent activation of epithelial cells by fungal allergens leads to morphologic changes and cytokine production☆
Section snippets
Fungal extracts and quantification of protease activities
Biologically standardized lyophilized fungal allergen extracts from fungal hyphae and spores obtained from stationary cultures (Cladosporium herbarum , Alternaria alternata , and Aspergillus fumigatus ) were kindly provided by Dr Lars Jacobsen (ALKAbelló). Crude extracts were obtained by using aqueous extraction for 24 hours at 4°C to 8°C and purified by using microdialysis with a cut-off point of 10,000 d, which is similar to that of extracts used for diagnostic purposes. Culture filtrate of
Protease activity in fungal extracts
Protein content and gelatinase, elastase, and total protease activities are shown in Table I.
Fungal extract Protein (%) Total protease activity (U/mg) Elastase activity (Vmax) Gelatinase activity (U/mg) Alternaria alternata 23.0 2.18 0 0.40 Cladosporium herbarum 11.5 1.50 25.0 0.14 Aspergillus fumigatus 33.7 1.93 17.7 0.57 E-ColCF 36.3 3.89 55.1 3.15
DISCUSSION
Epithelial cells are important in innate immunity. Aside from their mechanical barrier function, they may also express surface receptors that are able to recognize microorganisms or their soluble components. Our data show that airway epithelial cells interact with proteases from allergenic fungi, resulting in IL-6 and IL-8 release. Earlier observations have shown that proteases from Aspergillus fumigatus induce cytokines known to be important in the recruitment of inflammatory cells (IL-6,
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr A. E. J. Dubois, MD, PhD, for critical review of the manuscript and Dr R. Weissenbruch for delivery of the nasal resections.
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