Human airway epithelial responses to rhinovirus infection and cigarette smoke extract alone and in combination

This study was performed to test the hypothesis that cigarette smoke extract would alter the responses of primary cultures of human bronchial epithelial cells to infection with purified human rhinovirus 16. The data show marked alterations in rhinovirus-induced expression profiles of a number of genes in the presence of cigarette smoke extract (CSE). Cultured epithelial cells from each of 4 donors were exposed to medium alone, rhinovirus 16 (RV16) alone, CSE alone, or RV16 in the presence of CSE. After a 24 h incubation gene expression was assessed.