Original Articles: Mechanisms of AllergyExpression of c-erbB receptors and ligands in the bronchial epithelium of asthmatic subjects☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Patient characterization and fiberoptic bronchoscopy
Ten control subjects without asthma (8 men) with a mean ± SEM age of 26.0 ± 1.8 years and 13 subjects with mild-to-severe asthma (9 men) with a mean ± SEM age of 37.2 ± 2.4 years participated in this study. Asthmatic subjects had a mean ± SEM percent predicted FEV1 of 76.9% ± 6.3%, and their geometric mean PC20 histamine was 0.94 mg/mL (range, 0.12-8.33 mg/mL). All were taking inhaled bronchodilators, and 9 of them were taking steroids. All subjects studied were nonsmokers and had not
Analysis of c-erbB receptor and ligand expression in asthmatic epithelium
c-erbB receptor and ligand expression was analyzed in sections of bronchial biopsy specimens that were obtained by means of fiberoptic bronchoscopy from normal (n = 10) or asthmatic subjects (n = 13). Immunohistochemical analysis of biopsy specimens of normal airway mucosa revealed positive epithelial staining for EGFR, c-erbB2, and c-erbB3 receptors. This was associated with cell membranes and confined to the lateral junctions between columnar epithelial cells and their junctions with basal
Discussion
Combinatorial c-erbB receptor interactions leading to signal diversification and modulation of cellular responses is the focus of intense research activity in many areas of biology.9 Because EGFR, c-erbB2, and c-erbB3 are coexpressed in the bronchial epithelium, we postulated that differential expression of these receptors regulates responses to stress or injury in asthma. Using a model of mechanical damage to human bronchial epithelial cells in vitro, which may reflect some of the physical
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Supported by the Medical Research Council (No. G8604034) and Asthma Allergy and Inflammation Research (AAIR) and by an ECC Marie Curie Award (ERB4001GT965839) to R. Polosa.
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Reprint requests: Donna Davies, PhD, Medical Specialties RCMB (810), D Level Centre Block, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.