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Keratinocyte Growth Factor and Autocrine Repair in Airway Epithelium
Wesley L. Hicks, Jr, MD;
Leon A. Hall III, BSc;
Robert Hard, PhD;
Joseph Gardella, PhD;
Frank Bright, PhD;
Natesh Parasharama, MD;
Jamson Lwebuga-Mukasa, MD, PhD;
Lynn Sigurdson, PhD
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2004;130:446-449.
Background Delayed or nonreepithelialization of the large conducting airway (ie, trachea and bronchus) is a clinically recognized but poorly understood result of airway trauma. This delay results in granulation tissue formation and scarring, which impairs mucocilliary transport and can critically compromise gas exchange. Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) is a known epithelial cell mitogen that is derived from mesenchymal cells. We previously observed its expression in injured tracheal explants, and in the present study we investigated its origin.
Design Freshly isolated porcine tracheal epithelial cells were cytospun onto glass slides for immunohistochemical identification and localization of KGF and for in situ hybridization localization of its messenger RNA. Polymerase chain reaction analysis for KGF was also performed.
Results Freshly isolated respiratory epithelial cells were identified as being of epithelial origin and uncontaminated by fibroblasts, as evidenced by stains that were positive for AE3 and negative for vimentin. Immunohistochemical analysis and in situ hybridization revealed a subset of cells that were positive for both the protein and the message for KGF.
Conclusion This subset of KGF-expressing respiratory epithelial cells may participate in a hitherto undescribed autocrine loop for stimulating KGF production in response to injury.
From the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY (Drs Hicks, Parasharama, and Sigurdson and Mr Hall); the Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology (Dr Hard) and Medicine (Dr Lwebuga-Mukasa), State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine; and the Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Buffalo (Drs Gardella and Bright). Dr Parasharama is now with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ. The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.
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