HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Permissions Request Permissions Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kraft, M. Articles by Chu, H. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kraft, M. Articles by Chu, H. W.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae induces airway epithelial cell expression of MUC5AC in asthma

¹ Dept of Medicine and Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, ² Dept of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, ³ Dept of Pediatrics, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, ⁵ Dept of Medicine, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, CO, and ⁴ Dept of Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.

CORRESPONDENCE: M. Kraft, Duke University Medical Center, MSRB M275, Research Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA. Fax: 1 9196848408. E-mail: monika.kraft{at}duke.edu

Keywords: Asthma, epithelial cell, MUC5AC, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, toll-like receptor 2

Received: August 9, 2007
Accepted September 21, 2007

As excess mucin expression can contribute to the exacerbation of asthma, the present authors hypothesised that Mycoplasma pneumoniae significantly induces MUC5AC (the major airway mucin) expression in airway epithelial cells isolated directly from asthmatic subjects.

A total of 11 subjects with asthma and six normal controls underwent bronchoscopy with airway brushing. Epithelial cells were cultured at an air–liquid interface and incubated with and without M. pneumoniae for 48 h, and in the presence and absence of nuclear factor (NF)-B and a toll-like receptor (TLR)2 inhibitor. Quantitative PCR was performed for MUC5AC and TLR2 mRNA. MUC5AC protein and total protein were determined by ELISA.

M. pneumoniae exposure significantly increased MUC5AC mRNA and protein expression after 48 h in epithelial cells isolated from asthmatic, but not from normal control subjects, at all concentrations as compared to unexposed cells. TLR2 mRNA expression was significantly increased in asthmatic epithelial cells at 4 h compared with unexposed cells. NF-B and TLR2 inhibition reduced MUC5AC expression to the level of the unexposed control in both groups.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae exposure significantly increased MUC5AC mRNA and protein expression preferentially in airway epithelial cells isolated from asthmatic subjects. The toll-like receptor 2 pathway may be involved in this process.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. Fujisawa, S. Velichko, P. Thai, L.-Y. Hung, F. Huang, and R. Wu Regulation of Airway MUC5AC Expression by IL-1{beta} and IL-17A; the NF-{kappa}B Paradigm J. Immunol., November 15, 2009; 183(10): 6236 - 6243. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. C. Newcomb and R. S. Peebles Jr. Bugs and Asthma: A Different Disease? Proceedings of the ATS, May 1, 2009; 6(3): 266 - 271. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Voynow and B. K. Rubin Mucins, Mucus, and Sputum Chest, February 1, 2009; 135(2): 505 - 512. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]