An epithelial paracrine pathway that induces an asthmatic phenotype through a neuropeptide-Y induced mechanism

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world and its incidence is rising. While most treatments for asthma involve reducing symptoms including blunting of the reactive inflammatory response, little is understood about the role of the airway epithelium in this disease. To explore the role of the airway epithelium in asthma, we performed lung resistance and airway compliance testing after exposure to methacholine (Mch) on adult control (Scgb1a1-Cre) and Scgb1a1-Cre:Foxp1flox/flox:Foxp4flox/flox (Foxp1/4DKO) mutants, and did larger proximal airway microarray analysis, respectively.