Scientific reports 2013-01-01

12/15-lipoxygenase expressed in non-epithelial cells causes airway epithelial injury in asthma.

Ulaganathan Mabalirajan, Rakhshinda Rehman, Tanveer Ahmad, Sarvesh Kumar, Geeta Devi Leishangthem, Suchita Singh, Amit Kumar Dinda, Shyam Biswal, Anurag Agrawal, Balaram Ghosh

Index: Sci. Rep. 3 , 1540, (2013)

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Abstract

The mechanisms underlying asthmatic airway epithelial injury are not clear. 12/15-lipoxygenase (an ortholog of human 15-LOX-1), which is induced by IL-13, is associated with mitochondrial degradation in reticulocytes at physiological conditions. In this study, we showed that 12/15-LOX expressed in nonepithelial cells caused epithelial injury in asthma pathogenesis. While 12/15-LOX overexpression or IL-13 administration to naïve mice showed airway epithelial injury, 12/15-LOX knockout/knockdown in allergic mice reduced airway epithelial injury. The constitutive expression of 15-LOX-1 in bronchial epithelia of normal human lungs further indicated that epithelial 15-LOX-1 may not cause epithelial injury. 12/15-LOX expression is increased in various inflammatory cells in allergic mice. Though non-epithelial cells such as macrophages or fibroblasts released 12/15-LOX metabolites upon IL-13 induction, bronchial epithelia didn't release. Further 12-S-HETE, arachidonic acid metabolite of 12/15-LOX leads to epithelial injury. These findings suggested 12/15-LOX expressed in non-epithelial cells such as macrophages and fibroblasts leads to bronchial epithelial injury.