The role of Dok adaptors in pulmonary disorders

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Dok adaptor proteins play important roles on the proper regulation of tyrosine kinase-mediated signaling pathways. In this study, I particularly investigated the role of Dok adaptors in pulmonary disorders such as asthma. Although many causative factors of asthma have been suggested, dysfunction of immune cells is one of the major reason of this disease. In these immune cells, three Dok adaptors can be detected, therefore, the role of them in asthma was investigated using knockout mice.As expected, mice lacking three Dok adaptors exhibited an abnormal increase in airway hyperreactivity, a biological measure of asthma. Consistent with previous findings, the levels of Th2 cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids were also elevated in these mice. Furthermore, histological examination revealed hyperplasia of airway epithelial cells and accumulation of goblet cells. These results proved that Dok adaptor proteins play a key role on the regulation of asthma.