TGF-beta treated airway epithelium

Despite being exposed to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection multiple times in our lives, infants, older-adults, and immunocompromised patients are vulnerable to RSV-associated severe diseases, such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Respiratory viral infections are known to promote pulmonary fibrosis formation, which are often associated with a cellular remodeling process epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, there is no information on whether RSV causes EMT in bronchial epithelial cells. Our results suggest that RSV-infection does not induce EMT in three different in vitro lung models: epithelial A549 cell line, primary normal human bronchial epithelial cells, and pseudostratified airway epithelium. Interestingly, RSV infection increased cell surface area and perimeter in the infected airway epithelium, which is distinct from the TGF-β1 driven cell elongation. Genome-wide transcriptome analysis also revealed that RSV infection is not involved in cell motility and locomotion. Thus, our results suggest that RSV infection does not induce EMT in the airway epithelium Airway epithelium of a healthy adult primary normal human bronchial epithelial (MHNE) cells treated with 10ng/ml TGF-beta for six days