Investigation of Axl receptor tyrosine kinase in COPD airways

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H06641
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Respiratory organ internal medicine
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Fujino Naoya 東北大学, 大学病院, 助教 (10633670)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-08-26 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 気道上皮細胞 / 炎症 / Axl受容体チロシンキナーゼ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Axl receptor tyrosine kinase is known to be expressed by macrophages and dendritic cells. The applicant previously found that Axl was also expressed by airway basal cells. However the role of Axl in airway basal cells of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been determined. We found that the number of Axl+/P63+ basal cells increased in COPD ex-smokers bronchioles compared to control never-smokers and control ex-smokers. In vitro experiments using human bronchial epithelial cell line Beas2B cells indicated that Axl did not regulate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, which was reported to be associated with cancer progression. However we found that Axl kinase regulated chemokine and cytokine expression in Beas2B cells, which promote neutrophil inflammation. These data suggested that Axl kinase in the airway has roles in cellular proliferation and regulation of inflammation.

Free Research Field

呼吸器内科学