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The Expression of NOX4 in Smooth Muscles of Small Airway Correlates with the Disease Severity of COPD
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The Expression of NOX4 in Smooth Muscles of Small Airway Correlates with the Disease Severity of COPD

Xianyan Liu, Binwei Hao, Ailing Ma, Jinxi He, Xiaoming Liu and Juan Chen
BioMed research international, Vol.2016, pp.1-17
2016
DOI: 10.1155/2016/2891810
PMCID: PMC5021463
PMID: 27656649
url
https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/2891810View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Airway smooth muscle (ASM) remodeling is a hallmark in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidases (NOXs) produced reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in COPD pathogenesis. In the present study, the expression of NOX4 and its correlation with the ASM hypertrophy/hyperplasia, clinical pulmonary functions, and the expression of transforming growth factor β (TGF- β ) in the ASM of COPD small airways were investigated by semiquantitative morphological and/or immunohistochemistry staining methods. The results showed that an elevated expression of NOX4 and TGF- β , along with an increased volume of ASM mass, was found in the ASM of small airways in COPD patients. The abundance of NOX4 protein in the ASM was increased with disease severity and inversely correlated with the pulmonary functions in COPD patients. In addition, the expression of NOX4 and ASM marker α -SMA was colocalized, and the increased NOX4 expression was found to accompany an upregulated expression of TGF- β in the ASM of small airways of COPD lung. These results indicate that NOX4 may be a key regulator in ASM remodeling of small airway, in part through a mechanism interacting with TGF- β signaling in the pathogenesis of COPD, which warrants further investigation.

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