Trefoil factor family domain peptides in the human respiratory tract
✍ Scribed by Elisabeth dos Santos Silva; Martina Ulrich; Gerd Döring; Konrad Botzenhart; Peter Gött
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2000
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 456 KB
- Volume
- 190
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-3417
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Trefoil factor family domain peptides (TFF) are thought to be involved in mucosal epithelial restitution and wound healing of the gastrointestinal tract and are up-regulated in ulceration and in a variety of solid tumours. It was hypothesized that TFFs are also expressed on mucosal surfaces of the human respiratory tract. Lung tissue, nasal polyps, and sputum samples from seven patients with cystic ®brosis (CF), two with chronic and acute bronchitis, and non-dysplastic material from two cases of bronchial adenocarcinoma were analysed for TFF expression by immunohistochemistry, immuno¯uorescence, western blot and RT-PCR. Expression of TFF1 and TFF3 was observed in material from all patients. TFFs were localized in goblet and ciliated cells, as well as in some submucosal cells of tracheobronchial tissues and nasal polyps from normal and CF individuals. In sputa of patients with CF and with chronic or acute bronchitis, TFF1 and TFF3 were detected by western blotting. Freshly cultivated nasal epithelial cells transcribed and secreted TFFs and mucins, whereas nasal cells cultivated for 6 weeks still expressed mucins, but not TFFs. Secreted TFFs and mucins also bound to the surface of Staphylococcus aureus in infected CF airways. In conclusion, TFF1 and TFF3 are expressed and secreted in normal and in¯amed airways. The association of TFFs with bacteria may contribute to the anti-microbial mucociliary defence system.