%0 Journal Article %A Manali Mukherjee %A David I. Pritchard %A Cynthia Bosquillon %T Variations in organic cation transporter (OCT) expression in bronchial epithelial cell layers after environmental insults %D 2011 %J European Respiratory Journal %P p3092 %V 38 %N Suppl 55 %X OCTs are transmembrane carriers that mediate the transport of endogenous amines in both directions. They are essential for the preservation of several organs and have been associated with chronic inflammatory disorders like Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. They are also dysregulated in the lung of allergic rodents after an acute ovalbumin challenge (Lips, K.S., et al. Life Sciences, 2007; 80:2263-2269). The airway epithelium is the primary protection barrier in lung defence and its role in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases is becoming evident. Variations in OCT expression in response to environmental insults were quantified in bronchial epithelial cell layers in vitro. Layers of the human cell line Calu-3 and normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells showed similar OCT gene expression pattern after differentiation at an air-liquid interface for 21days. Calu-3 layers were exposed to the aeroallergen house dust mite or they were physically injured in a scrape wound model. Cells were harvested after recovery for real-time PCR analysis. Significant fold-increases in the expression of OCT1, OCT3, OCTN2 and the pro-inflammatory markers CCL17 and COX-2 were measured. “In-cell” western blotting confirmed OCT up-regulation at the protein level. It was shown OCT expression in bronchial epithelial cells is enhanced after allergen abuse and physical damage. Although further investigation into OCT functions in bronchial epithelial cells is needed, this study suggests a possible role of the transporters in the protection and regeneration of the bronchial epithelium. %U