Abstract
Airway epithelium acts as multifunctional site of response in the respiratory tract. Epithelial activity plays an important part in the pathophysiology of obstructive lung disease. In this study, we compare normal human epithelial cells from various levels of the respiratory tract in terms of their reactivity to pro-allergic and pro-inflammatory stimulation. Normal human nasal, bronchial and small airway epithelial cells were stimulated with IL-4 and IL-13. The expressions of the eotaxins IL-6 and CXCL8 were evaluated at the mRNA and protein levels. The effects of pre-treatment with IFN-γ on the cell reactivity were measured, and the responses to TNF-α, LPS and IFN-γ were evaluated. All of the studied primary cells expressed CCL26, IL-6 and IL-8 after IL-4 or IL-13 stimulation. IFN-γ pre-treatment resulted in decreased CCL26 and increased IL-6 expression in the nasal and small airway cells, but this effect was not observed in the bronchial cells. IL-6 and CXCL8 were produced in varying degrees by all of the epithelial primary cells in cultures stimulated with TNF-α, LPS or IFN-γ. We showed that epithelial cells from the various levels of the respiratory tract act in a united way, responding in a similar manner to stimulation with IL-4 and IL-13, showing similar reactivity to TNF-α and LPS, and giving an almost unified response to IFN-γ pre-stimulation.Electronic Supplementary MaterialSupplementary material is available for this article at 10.2478/s11658-013-0107-y and is accessible for authorized users.
Highlights
The epithelium of the respiratory tract is more than a mechanical barrier between the outside environment and the internal parenchyma
The expression of eotaxins in airway epithelial cells after IL-4 or IL-13 stimulation A comparison of eotaxin mRNA and protein expression in nasal, bronchial and small airway epithelial cell cultures upon IL-4 or IL-13 simulation is shown in Figs 1 and. 2 and Suppl
Small airway epithelial cells expressed significantly higher levels of CCL26 mRNA after IL-4 or IL-13 stimulation compared to the two other epithelial cell types
Summary
The epithelium of the respiratory tract is more than a mechanical barrier between the outside environment and the internal parenchyma. The airway epithelium is involved in the immunological response to infections and participates in pathological processes in non-infectious lung diseases [2] It is a source of numerous pro-inflammatory mediators, which cause a flow of inflammatory cells into the airway lumen [3,4,5]. IL-4 and IL-13 are Th2 cytokines important in allergies and asthma They stimulate eotaxin release from the respiratory epithelium [11]. These cytokines share the same receptor, which is expressed on airway epithelial cells, among others, their effector profiles are not identical [12]. CXCL8 expression in respiratory epithelial cells is increased by pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β) and bacterial infections (LPS) [18,19,20]. Experiments with cultures of paired undifferentiated nasal and bronchial epithelial cells obtained from patients
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