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Connective Tissue Growth Factor Induces Extracellular Matrix in Asthmatic Airway Smooth Muscle

Respiratory Research Group, Department of Pharmacology, and Discipline of Medicine, The University of Sydney; Woolcock Institute for Medical Research, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital; and Department of Endocrinology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to J. K. Burgess, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia 2006. E-mail: janette{at}pharmacol.usyd.edu.au

Transforming growth factor (TGF)- and connective tissue growth factor may be implicated in extracellular matrix protein deposition in asthma. We have recently reported that TGF- increased connective tissue growth factor expression in airway smooth muscle cells isolated from patients with asthma. In this study, we examined fibronectin and collagen production and signal transduction pathways after stimulation with TGF- and connective tissue growth factor. In both asthmatic and nonasthmatic airway smooth muscle cells, TGF- and connective tissue growth factor led to the production of fibronectin and collagen I. Fibronectin and collagen expression was extracellular regulated kinase–dependent in both cell types but phosphoinositide-3 kinase–dependent only in asthmatic airway smooth muscle cells. p38 was implicated in fibronectin but not collagen expression in both cell types. TGF- induction of fibronectin and collagen was in part mediated by an autocrine action of connective tissue growth factor. Phosphorylation of SMAD-2 may represent an additional pathway because this was increased in asthmatic cells. Our results suggest that these two cytokines may be important in the deposition of extracellular matrix proteins and that the signal transduction pathways may be different in asthmatic and nonasthmatic cells.

Key Words: asthma • connective tissue growth factor • extracellular matrix • transforming growth factor •

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