Defective Fibrillar Collagen Organization by Fibroblasts Contributes to Airway Remodeling in Asthma.

Histologic stains have been used as the gold standard to visualize extracellular matrix (ECM) changes associated with airway remodeling in asthma, yet they provide no information on the biochemical and structural characteristics of the ECM, which are vital to understanding alterations in tissue function. To demonstrate the use of nonlinear optical microscopy (NLOM) and texture analysis algorithms to image fibrillar collagen (second harmonic generation) and elastin (two-photon excited autofluorescence), to obtain biochemical and structural information on the remodeled ECM environment in asthma. Nontransplantable donor lungs from donors with asthma ( = 13) and control ( = 12) donors were used for the assessment of airway collagen and elastin fibers by NLOM, and extraction of lung fibroblasts for experiments.

Epigenetic modifying enzyme expression in asthmatic airway epithelial cells and fibroblasts.

Background: Recognition of the airway epithelium as a central mediator in the pathogenesis of asthma has necessitated greater understanding of the aberrant cellular mechanisms of the epithelium in asthma. The architecture of chromatin is integral to the regulation of gene expression and is determined by modifications to the surrounding histones and DNA. The acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination of histone tail residues has the potential to greatly alter the accessibility of DNA to the cells transcriptional machinery.