title: Respiratory protease/antiprotease balance determines susceptibility to viral infection and can be modified by nutritional antioxidants.
abstract: The respiratory epithelium functions as a central orchestrator to initiate and organize responses to inhaled stimuli. Proteases and antiproteases are secreted from the respiratory epithelium and are involved in respiratory homeostasis. Modifications to the protease/antiprotease balance can lead to the development of lung diseases such as emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Furthermore, altered protease/antiprotease balance, in favor for increased protease activity, is associated with increased susceptibility to respiratory viral infections such as influenza virus. However, nutritional antioxidants induce antiprotease expression/secretion and decrease protease expression/activity, to protect against viral infection. As such, this review will elucidate the impact of this balance in the context of respiratory viral infection and lung disease, to further highlight the role epithelial cell-derived proteases and antiproteases contribute to respiratory immune function. Furthermore, this review will offer the use of nutritional antioxidants as possible therapeutics to boost respiratory mucosal responses and/or protect against infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina;
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Curriculum in Toxicology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina ilona_jaspers@med.unc.edu.
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jaspers
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D006801:Humans; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000821:virology*; D014779:Virus Replication; D014780:Viruses / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases
keywords: nutritional antioxidants; protease/antiprotease; viral infection