The Role of Insulin Receptor Substrate Proteins in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Asthma: New Potential Perspectives

Insulin receptor substrates (IRSs) are proteins that are involved in signaling through the insulin receptor (IR) and insulin-like growth factor (IGFR). They can also interact with other receptors including growth factor receptors. Thus, they represent a critical node for the transduction and regulation of multiple signaling pathways in response to extracellular stimuli. In addition, IRSs play a central role in processes such as inflammation, growth, metabolism, and proliferation. Previous studies have highlighted the role of IRS proteins in lung diseases, in particular asthma. Further, the members of the IRS family are the common proteins of the insulin growth factor signaling cascade involved in lung development and disrupted in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). However, there is no study focusing on the relationship between IRS proteins and BPD yet. Unfortunately, there is still a significant gap in knowledge in this field. Thus, in this review, we aimed to summarize the current knowledge with the major goal of exploring the possible roles of IRS in BPD and asthma to foster new perspectives for further investigations.