Asthma is a disease of acute and chronic inflammation in which cytokines play a critical role in orchestrating the allergic inflammatory response. IL-13 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β promote fibrotic airway remodeling, a major contributor to disease severity. Improved understanding is needed, because current therapies are inadequate for suppressing development of airway fibrosis. IL-13 is known to stimulate respiratory epithelial cells to produce TGF-β, but the mechanism through which this occurs is unknown. Here, we tested the hypothesis that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a critical signaling intermediary between IL-13 or allergen stimulation and TGF-β-dependent airway remodeling. We used cultured human bronchial epithelial cells and an in vivo mouse model of allergic asthma to map a pathway where allergens enhanced mitochondrial ROS, which is an essential upstream signal for TGF-β activation and enhanced collagen production and deposition in airway fibroblasts. We show that mitochondria in airway epithelium are an essential source of ROS that activate TGF-β expression and activity. TGF-β from airway epithelium stimulates collagen expression in fibroblasts, contributing to an early fibrotic response to allergen exposure in cultured human airway cells and in ovalbumin-challenged mice. Treatment with the mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant, (2-(2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl-4-ylamino)-2-oxoethyl)triphenylphosphonium chloride (mitoTEMPO), significantly attenuated mitochondrial ROS, TGF-β, and collagen deposition in OVA-challenged mice and in cultured human epithelial cells. Our findings suggest that mitochondria are a critical source of ROS for promoting TGF-β activity that contributes to airway remodeling in allergic asthma. Mitochondrial-targeted antioxidants may be a novel approach for future asthma therapies.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 12 March 2015.
All research outputs
#24,754,523
of 34,360,889 outputs
Outputs from American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology
#3,444
of 4,374 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#283,168
of 409,688 outputs
Outputs of similar age from American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology
#23
of 30 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,360,889 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 19th percentile – i.e., 19% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,374 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.0. This one is in the 14th percentile – i.e., 14% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 409,688 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 24th percentile – i.e., 24% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 30 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 13th percentile – i.e., 13% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
