title: Pulmonary fibroblasts from COPD patients show an impaired response of elastin synthesis to TGF-β1.
abstract: Insufficiency of tissue repair by pulmonary fibroblasts may contribute to the decrease in elastic fibres in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, the repair function of COPD fibroblasts was assessed by examining the response to transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1. Primary pulmonary fibroblasts were cultured from lung tissue of COPD patients and smoking control subjects. Cellular proliferation was measured with Alamar Blue reduction method. Levels of tropoelastin mRNA and soluble elastin was measured using real-time RT-PCR and Fastin elastin assay respectively. The percentage of increase in proliferation and elastin production after TGF-β1 (1 ng/ml) treatment was calculated for fibroblasts from each subject. COPD fibroblasts showed slower proliferation than control fibroblasts, and a reduced response to TGF-β1 stimulation. The promotive effect of TGF-β1 on elastin synthesis in control fibroblasts was significantly diminished in fibroblasts from COPD patients. Our findings indicate that COPD lung fibroblasts have a significantly decreased response to TGF-β1 in terms of proliferation and elastin production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ming-xiang
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sexton
authors.forename: Chun-xue
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Jie-ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Mervyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Merrilees
authors.forename: Peter N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Black
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004549:Elastin / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000473:pathology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014333:Tropoelastin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014333:Tropoelastin; D004549:Elastin