help button home button
AJRCCM
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Published ahead of print on May 11, 2006, doi:10.1164/rccm.200501-082PP

Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 174, Number 4, August 2006, 367-372

A more recent version of this article appeared on August 15, 2006
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
200501-082PPv1
174/4/367    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Borger, P.
Right arrow Articles by Roth, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Borger, P.
Right arrow Articles by Roth, M.

Submitted on January 19, 2005
Accepted on May 10, 2006

Asthma? Is it Due to an Abnormal Airway Smooth Muscle Cell?

Peter Borger1*, Michael Tamm1, Judith L Black2, and Michael Roth3

1 Pulmonary Cell Research, Department of Research and Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 2 Department of Pharmacology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 3 Pulmonary Cell Research, Department of Research and Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pieter.borger{at}unibas.ch.

Asthma is an airway disease highly prevalent in westernized countries and of unknown aetiology. Often asthma is associated with atopy, but not all atopic individuals are asthmatics. Some asthma patients outgrow symptoms, whereas many others acquire asthma later in life. Still other patients suffer from asthma their entire life. How can we explain these different patterns? It may be asthma should be regarded as the clinical manifestation of a group of diseases with similar pathology due to a common factor. In this perspective we propose that an aberrant phenotype of airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells could be sufficient to explain the pathology of asthma. We will argue an abnormal ASM cell is a prerequisite to the development of asthma. Our postulate is that inadequate levels of C/EBP{alpha}, a protein that is pivotal for the suppression of both inflammation and proliferation responses, confer on ASM cells an activated phenotype that is more susceptible to mitogenic and contractile stimuli.
Key words: asthma, airway smooth muscle cell abnormality, CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Proteins




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur Respir JHome page
S. Zuyderduyn, M. B. Sukkar, A. Fust, S. Dhaliwal, and J. K. Burgess
Treating asthma means treating airway smooth muscle cells
Eur. Respir. J., August 1, 2008; 32(2): 265 - 274.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory DiseaseHome page
M. Baroffio, E. Crimi, and V. Brusasco
Review: Airway smooth muscle as a model for new investigative drugs in asthma
Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease, June 1, 2008; 2(3): 129 - 139.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.Home page
C. Pantano, J. L. Ather, J. F. Alcorn, M. E. Poynter, A. L. Brown, A. S. Guala, S. L. Beuschel, G. B. Allen, L. A. Whittaker, M. Bevelander, et al.
Nuclear Factor-{kappa}B Activation in Airway Epithelium Induces Inflammation and Hyperresponsiveness
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., May 1, 2008; 177(9): 959 - 969.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.Home page
J. H. T. Bates, A. Cojocaru, H. C. Haverkamp, L. M. Rinaldi, and C. G. Irvin
The Synergistic Interactions of Allergic Lung Inflammation and Intratracheal Cationic Protein
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., February 1, 2008; 177(3): 261 - 268.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.Home page
R. A. Panettieri Jr., M. I. Kotlikoff, W. T. Gerthoffer, M. B. Hershenson, P. G. Woodruff, I. P. Hall, and S. Banks-Schlegel
Airway Smooth Muscle in Bronchial Tone, Inflammation, and Remodeling: Basic Knowledge to Clinical Relevance
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., February 1, 2008; 177(3): 248 - 252.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc Am Thorac SocHome page
P. G. Woodruff
Gene Expression in Asthmatic Airway Smooth Muscle
Proceedings of the ATS, January 1, 2008; 5(1): 113 - 118.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Eur Respir JHome page
S. S. An, T. R. Bai, J. H. T. Bates, J. L. Black, R. H. Brown, V. Brusasco, P. Chitano, L. Deng, M. Dowell, D. H. Eidelman, et al.
Airway smooth muscle dynamics: a common pathway of airway obstruction in asthma
Eur. Respir. J., May 1, 2007; 29(5): 834 - 860.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.Home page
W. C. Moore and S. P. Peters
Update in Asthma 2006
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., April 1, 2007; 175(7): 649 - 654.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Physiol. Lung Cell. Mol. Physiol.Home page
N. Henderson, L. J. Markwick, S. R. Elshaw, A. M. Freyer, A. J. Knox, and S. R. Johnson
Collagen I and thrombin activate MMP-2 by MMP-14-dependent and -independent pathways: implications for airway smooth muscle migration
Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, April 1, 2007; 292(4): L1030 - L1038.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med.Home page
S. E. Wenzel and S. Balzar
Myofibroblast or smooth muscle: do in vitro systems adequately replicate tissue smooth muscle?
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., August 15, 2006; 174(4): 364 - 365.
[Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Proc. Am. Thorac. Soc. Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol.
Copyright © 2006 American Thoracic Society