Extract
In the past decade, several asthma genes have been identified [1]; however, the key challenge is to determine how these genetic changes contribute to the underlying lung biology. We identified the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (PLAUR) as an asthma susceptibility gene by positional cloning [2]. We showed that the same single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were associated with soluble PLAUR levels in blood, airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and accelerated lung function decline in asthma; a clinical feature linked to airway wall remodelling [2]. Therefore, we hypothesised that PLAUR may contribute to structural changes in asthma via increased levels of the membrane bound or soluble receptor. We subsequently showed that PLAUR levels were elevated in the airway epithelium of asthma patients and that PLAUR has a role in epithelial repair responses [3]. The aim of the current study was to 1) test for association between PLAUR SNPs and markers of airway remodelling using bronchial biopsies from asthma patients; and 2) test for association between SNPs and staining for PLAUR in airway tissue.
Abstract
PLAUR polymorphisms and levels are associated with markers of airway remodelling in lung biopsies of asthma patients http://ow.ly/X5Srl
Footnotes
Support statement: Support came from the University Medical Center Groningen; the Netherlands Asthma Foundation (grant numbers AF 95.09, AF 98.48, AF 3.2.02.51, and AF 3.2.07.015); Asthma UK (grant number 08/017); and the STEPS (Malta) scholarship, financed in part by the European Union, European Social Fund (ESF), under Operational Programme II, Cohesion Policy 2007–2013, Empowering People for More Jobs and a Better Quality of Life. Funding information for this article has been deposited with FundRef.
Conflict of interest: Disclosures can be found alongside the online version of this article at erj.ersjournals.com
- Received September 21, 2015.
- Accepted December 20, 2015.
- Copyright ©ERS 2016
ERJ Open articles are open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Licence 4.0.