TY - JOUR T1 - Genome-wide expression profiling of T-cells in childhood wheeze JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1138 LP - 1140 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00130108 VL - 32 IS - 5 AU - A. Bosco AU - P. G. Holt Y1 - 2008/11/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/32/5/1138.abstract N2 - Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying asthma and related phenotypes is a monumental task. To date, >100 susceptibility genes have already been identified with diverse functions. These can broadly be classified into those involved in the regulation of the innate and adaptive immune system, epithelial biology, lung function and remodelling, and disease severity 1. An important advance that has the potential to accelerate progress in this area is the emergence of microarray-based expression profiling technology that enables the systematic, genome-wide analysis of the transcriptional changes underlying cellular behaviour and functionality. This new technology has already revealed important insights into asthma pathogenesis in experimental animal models 2, 3 but has yet to be exploited to a significant degree in the context of human asthma. In the current issue of the European Respiratory Journal, the study by Kapitein et al. 4 focuses on CD4 T-cell phenotypes associated with childhood wheeze, which represents a significant initial step in this direction. CD4 T-cells, especially T-helper (Th)2-polarised effectors, are acknowledged to be major players in the pathogenesis of human asthma 1. Previous studies have demonstrated that Th2 cytokine production is elevated in airway CD4 T-cells in both atopic and nonatopic forms of the disease 5, 6. Moreover, levels of expression of Th2 cytokines by airway CD4 T-cells correlate with disease severity 7. Findings in blood, whilst not always reproducing those in the airways 7, 8, have demonstrated that T-cell response patterns are, to some degree, predictive … ER -