A novel syndrome of silent rhinovirus-associated bronchoalveolitis in children with recurrent wheeze.

Background: Rhinovirus (RV) infections trigger wheeze episodes in children. Thus, understanding of the lung inflammatory response to RV in children with wheeze is important.

Objectives: This study sought to examine the associations of RV on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) granulocyte patterns and biomarkers of inflammation with age in children with treatment-refractory, recurrent wheeze (n = 616).

Interleukin-5 receptor alpha (CD125) expression on human blood and lung neutrophils.

Background: Our previous studies revealed the presence of interleukin-5 (IL-5) receptor alpha chain (IL-5Rα, CD125) on neutrophils in a murine model of influenza and in the lung fluid of children with severe asthma.

Objective: To further evaluate the functional characteristics and effects of clinical factors and inflammatory variables on neutrophil surface IL-5Rα abundance in lung fluid and blood.

Methods: IL-5Rα expression was quantified by flow cytometry performed on purified neutrophils from blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples obtained from healthy controls and individuals with asthma.

Expression of IL-5 receptor alpha by murine and human lung neutrophils.

The role of eosinophilia in atopic diseases, including asthma, is well established, as is the well-known role of IL-5 as a major eosinophilopoeitin and chemoattractant. Following influenza A virus infection of mice, type 2 innate lymphoid cells are recruited to the respiratory tract and produce large quantities of IL-5, which contributes to the recruitment of eosinophils into the infected lungs during the recovery phase of infection. We demonstrate here that while IL-5 is required for optimal recovery from influenza A virus infection in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice, the protective effect of IL-5 is independent of eosinophils, suggesting an alternative cellular target.

Conformational epitopes at cadherin calcium-binding sites and p120-catenin phosphorylation regulate cell adhesion.

We investigated changes in cadherin structure at the cell surface that regulate its adhesive activity. Colo 205 cells are nonadhesive cells with a full but inactive complement of E-cadherin-catenin complexes at the cell surface, but they can be triggered to adhere and form monolayers. We were able to distinguish the inactive and active states of E-cadherin at the cell surface by using a special set of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).