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Transforming Growth Factor ß Enhances Respiratory Syncytial Virus Replication and Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Induction in Human Epithelial Cells

Laboratory of Respiratory Biology, National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709

Received 22 November 2006/ Accepted 20 December 2006

Asthma is characterized as a chronic inflammatory disease associated with significant tissue remodeling. Patients with asthma are more susceptible to virus-induced exacerbation, which subsequently can lead to increased rates of hospitalization and mortality. While the most common cause of asthma-related deaths is respiratory viral infections, the underlying factors in the lung environment which render asthmatic subjects more susceptible to viral exacerbation are not yet identified. Since transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) is a critical cytokine for lung tissue remodeling and asthma phenotype, we have focused on the effects of TGF-ß on viral replication and virus-induced inflammation. Treatment of human epithelial cells with TGF-ß increased respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) replication by approximately fourfold. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-) mRNA and protein expression were also significantly increased above levels with RSV infection alone. The increase in RSV replication and TNF- expression after TGF-ß treatment was concomitant with an increase in virus-induced p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. Our data reveal a novel effect for TGF-ß on RSV replication and provide a potential mechanism for the exaggerated inflammatory response observed in asthmatic subjects during respiratory viral infections.

Published ahead of print on 3 January 2007.