title: The mechanism of mucus production in bronchial asthma.
abstract: Mucus production is a cardinal feature of bronchial asthma, contributing to morbidity and mortality in the disease. Goblet cells are major mucus-producing cells, and goblet cell hyperplasia (GCH) is one feature of airway remodeling, defined as structural changes occurring in the airway. A number of studies have demonstrated that Th2-type cells play critical roles in this process and that particularly interleukin-13 (IL-13), among Th2-type cytokines, is a central mediator for GCH. However, the mechanism underlying how Th2 cytokines induce mucus production or GCH is poorly understood. Mouse calcium-activated chloride channel-3 (mCLCA-3; gob-5)/human CLCA-1 acts as a downstream molecule of Th2 cytokines, IL-4/IL-9/IL-13 signals, playing an important role in mucus production. Moreover, we have recently found that pendrin, an anion transporter, is induced by IL-13 and causes mucus production in airway epithelial cells. It is hoped that if we can clarify how mucus is produced, this will lead to development of novel therapeutic reagents to suppress mucus production in bronchial asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Saga Medical School, Japan. kizuhara@cc.saga-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Izuhara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Toda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanabe
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yasuo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoshino
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aizawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018118:Chloride Channels / Q000276:immunology; D015870:Gene Expression; D020397:Goblet Cells / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000276:immunology; D055271:Mucin 5AC / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009093:Mucus / Q000378:metabolism*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D018118:Chloride Channels; D018793:Interleukin-13; D055271:Mucin 5AC