Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
College/Unit
School of Medicine
Department/Program/Center
Pediatrics
Abstract
Background
Overall expression of neurotrophins in the respiratory tract is upregulated in infants infected by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but it is unclear where (structural vs. inflammatory cells, upper vs. lower airways) and why, these changes occur. We analyzed systematically the expression of neurotrophic factors and receptors following RSV infection of human nasal, tracheal, and bronchial epithelial cells, and tested the hypothesis that neurotrophins work as innate survival factors for infected respiratory epithelia.
Methodology
Expression of neurotrophic factors (nerve growth factor, NGF; brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF) and receptors (trkA, trkB, p75) was analyzed at the protein level by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry and at the mRNA level by real-time PCR. Targeted siRNA was utilized to blunt NGF expression, and its effect on virus-induced apoptosis/necrosis was evaluated by flow cytometry following annexin V/7-AAD staining.
Principal Findings
RSV infection was more efficient in cells from more distal (bronchial) vs. more proximal origin. In bronchial cells, RSV infection induced transcript and protein overexpression of NGF and its high-affinity receptor trkA, with concomitant downregulation of the low-affinity p75NTR. In contrast, tracheal cells exhibited an increase in BDNF, trkA and trkB, and nasal cells increased only trkA. RSV-infected bronchial cells transfected with NGF-specific siRNA exhibited decreased trkA and increased p75NTR expression. Furthermore, the survival of bronchial epithelial cells was dramatically decreased when their endogenous NGF supply was depleted prior to RSV infection.
Conclusions/Significance
RSV infection of the distal airway epithelium, but not of the more proximal sections, results in overexpression of NGF and its trkA receptor, while the other p75NTR receptor is markedly downregulated. This pattern of neurotrophin expression confers protection against virus-induced apoptosis, and its inhibition amplifies programmed cell death in the infected bronchial epithelium. Thus, pharmacologic modulation of NGF expression may offer a promising new approach for management of common respiratory infections.
Digital Commons Citation
Othumpangat, Sreekumar; Gibson, Laura F.; Samsell, Lennie; and Piedimonte, Giovanni, "NGF Is an Essential Survival Factor for Bronchial Epithelial Cells during Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection" (2009). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 2826.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2826
Source Citation
Othumpangat S, Gibson LF, Samsell L, Piedimonte G (2009) NGF Is an Essential Survival Factor for Bronchial Epithelial Cells during Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection. PLoS ONE 4(7): e6444. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0006444
Comments
© 2009 Othumpangat et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited