Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) promotes human rhinovirus infection and inflammation

Analysis of normal human tracheobronchial epithelial cells treated with or without recombinant human GDF15 for two hours. Results provide insights of the genome-wide transcriptional regulation by Smad1 associated with GDF15 in human airway epithelium. Normal human tracheobronchial epithelial cells at passage 2 were seeded onto collagen-coated 60 mm tissue culture dishes (4 x105 cells) in bronchial epithelial cell growth medium (BEGM) with SingleQuots™ supplements (Lonza, Walkersville, MD) at 37°C, 5% CO2. At 80-90% confluence, cells were treated with 0.1% BSA-HCl (control) or 25 ng/ml of recombinant human GDF15 (rhGDF15, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN) for 2 h.