2007 Volume 21 Issue 2 Pages 180-186
Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease which brings mucus hyper-secretion in the airways. Mucus plug formation induced by goblet cells hyperplasia and mucus hyper-secretion progresses to airway occlusion, and may be a major contributor to disease mortality. Mucins are complex glycoproteins synthesized in epithelial cells. Mucins are classified by their MUC protein backbone, which is encoded by a MUC gene. Recently, more than 20 human mucin genes are identified. It has been previously demonstrated that several factors, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), cytokines and virus, may contribute to regulation of mucin genes expressed in airway epithelial cells. Currently, there are no drugs that exert a specific action on mucus production. We have found that glucocorticoid and DSCG may regulate airway mucus hyper-secretion. Identifying mechanisms that affect repression of mucin gene expression will be useful in developing new treatment strategy for bronchial asthma.
