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Airway inflammation is a key aspect of diseases such as asthma. Proinflammatory cytokines such as TNFα mediate the inflammatory response. In various diseases, inflammation leads to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, the accumulation of unfolded proteins, which triggers homeostatic responses to restore normal cellular function. We hypothesized that TNFα triggers ER stress through an increase in reactive oxygen species generation in human airway smooth muscle (hASM) with a downstream effect on mitofusin 2 (Mfn2). In hASM cells isolated from lung specimens incidental to patient surgery, dose- and time-dependent effects of TNFα exposure were assessed. Exposure of hASM to tunicamycin was used as a positive control. Tempol (500 μM) was used as superoxide scavenger. Activation of three ER stress pathways were evaluated by Western blotting: 1) autophosphorylation of inositol-requiring enzyme1 (IRE1α) leading to splicing of X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1); 2) autophosphorylation of protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) leading to phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2α; and 3) translocation and cleavage of activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6). We found that exposure of hASM cells to tunicamycin activated all three ER stress pathways. In contrast, TNFα selectively activated the IRE1α/XBP1 pathway in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. Our results indicate that TNFα does not activate the PERK and ATF6 pathways. Exposure of hASM cells to TNFα also decreased Mfn2 protein expression. Concurrent exposure to TNFα and tempol reversed the effect of TNFα on IRE1α phosphorylation and Mfn2 protein expression. Selective activation of the IRE1α/XBP1 pathway in hASM cells after exposure to TNFα may reflect a unique homeostatic role of this pathway in the inflammatory response of hASM cells.

TNFα selectively activates the IRE1α/XBP1 endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway in human airway smooth muscle cells