Premium
ITGB4 is essential for containing HDM‐induced airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness
Author(s) -
Liu Chi,
Yuan Lin,
Zou Yizhou,
Yang Ming,
Chen Yu,
Qu Xiangping,
Liu Huijun,
Jiang Jianxin,
Xiang Yang,
Qin Xiaoqun
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of leukocyte biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.819
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1938-3673
pISSN - 0741-5400
DOI - 10.1002/jlb.3a1017-411rr
Subject(s) - thymic stromal lymphopoietin , immunology , inflammation , eosinophil , cytokine , biology , asthma , lung , respiratory epithelium , epithelium , medicine , pathology
Airway epithelial cells play a significant role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Although the structural and functional defects of airway epithelial cells have been postulated to increase asthma susceptibility and exacerbate asthma severity, the mechanism and implication of these defects remain uncertain. Integrin β4 (ITGB4) is a structural adhesion molecule that is downregulated in the airway epithelium of asthma patients. In this study, we demonstrated that ITGB4 deficiency leads to severe allergy‐induced airway inflammation and airway hyper‐responsiveness (AHR) in mice. After house dust mite (HDM) challenge, epithelial cell‐specific ITGB4‐deleted mice showed increased lymphocyte, eosinophil, and neutrophil infiltration into lung compared with that of the wild‐type mice. ITGB4 deficiency also resulted in increased expression of the Th2 cytokine IL‐4, IL‐13, and the Th17 cytokine IL‐17A in the lung tissue and in the T cells after HDM challenge. The aggravated inflammation in ITGB4 defect mice was partly caused by enhanced disrupted epithelial barrier integrity after HDM stress, which induced the increased thymic stromal lymphopoietin secretion from airway epithelial cells. This study therefore demonstrates that ITGB4 plays a pivotal role in containing allergen‐mediated lung inflammation and airway hyper‐responsiveness in allergic asthma.