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Published on: May 26, 2023
Loss of caveolin-1 from bronchial epithelial cells and monocytes in human subjects with asthma
S N Bains1, E Tourkina, C Atkinson
1Division of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
Background:
Caveolin-1 has emerged as a critical regulator of signaling pathways involved in lung fibrosis and inflammation.
Methods:
Therefore, we investigated whether caveolin-1 is deficient in asthmatic patients and in a murine model of asthma.
Results:
Immunohistochemical analyses of endobronchial biopsies showed a remarkable loss of caveolin-1 in the lungs of asthmatic patients compared with controls. This loss was most evident in bronchial epithelial cells and associated with an increase in the expression of extracellular matrix proteins: collagen I, tenascin, and periostin. Cultured primary bronchial epithelial cells of asthmatics had lower caveolin-1 expression compared with control cells. In addition, caveolin-1 expression was significantly decreased in peripheral blood monocytes from asthma patients. The loss of caveolin-1 was also observed in a mouse model for asthma (mice sensitized and challenged with aspergillus fumigatus).
Conclusions:
To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that the regulatory protein caveolin-1 is reduced in patients with asthma.
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