title: Nuclear factor-κB mediates the phenotype switching of airway smooth muscle cells in a murine asthma model.
abstract: Airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) phenotype modulation, characterized by reversible switching between contractile and proliferative phenotypes, is considered to contribute to airway proliferative diseases such as allergic asthma. Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB) has been reported as a key regulator for the occurrence and development of asthma. However, little is known regarding its role in ASM cell phenotypic modulation. To elucidate the role of NF-κB in regulating ASM cells phenotypic modulation, we investigated the effects of NF-κB on ASM cells contractile marker protein expression, and its impact on proliferation and apoptosis. We found that chronic asthma increased the activation of NF-κB in the primary murine ASM cells with a concomitant marked decrease in the expression of contractile phenotypic marker protein including smooth muscle alpha-actin (α-SMA). Additionally, we used the normal ASM cells under different processing to build the phenotype switching when we found the activation of NF-κB. Meanwhile, the expression of α-SMA in asthma was significantly increased by the NF-κB blocker. NF-κB blocker also suppressed asthma mouse ASM cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis. These findings highlight a novel role for the NF-κB in murine ASM cell phenotypic modulation and provide a potential target for therapeutic intervention for asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory, The Affiliated Hospital of The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Reproductive Health, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory, The Affiliated Hospital of The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University Shenzhen, China ; Laboratory for Reproductive Health, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Meiping
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Reproductive Health, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Xiujun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051996:Transcription Factor RelA / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C498144:Rela protein, mouse; D051996:Transcription Factor RelA
keywords: Asthma; NF-κB; airway smooth muscle cells; phenotype