IL-17 signaling in airway smooth muscle cells

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During the last decade, study of how cytokines affect cellular function has revolutionized our thinking of the immune system. In particular, a new cytokine called interleukin-17 has defined a new paradigm on how immunological mechanisms operate. However, it is not fully understood how this cytokine affects other cells of our body, in particular structural cells such as smooth muscle within the airways. In this research program, we propose to extend our knowledge of how this cytokine, IL-17, affects gene expression in airway smooth muscle cells and what are the signaling factors that mediates gene expression. We believe that these studies will allow us to expand our knowledge of the cellular and molecular mechanism involved in IL-17 mediated smooth muscle function, explain its role as a key mediator of cellular function and help understand the role of immune mediators on human biology.