The role of CD44 in the bidirectional crosstalk between T lymphocytes and airway smooth muscle

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The lymphocyte is a central cell in adaptive immunity. The T cell may cause smooth muscle cells, contractile cells that are essential to the function of blood vessels, airways, and the walls of various hollow organs, to proliferate when the two cell types are in contct. This property may have important physiological functions such as determining the mass of tissues in health and increasing its mass in disease. The molecules that cause the T cells to adhere to muscle cells include CD44, a protein receptor, for the ground substance or matrix that surrounds cells, more specifically hyaluronic acid. CD44 is linked to a protein called matrix metalloproteinase 9 which may cleave growth factors from the cell membrane, causing the muscle cells to grow. The T cell communicates with the muscle cells also through the formation of nanotubes which can extend over substantial distances. The functions of these tubes has not yet been established but we believe them to be capable of allowing the passage of signals from muscle to T cell and vice versa. This grant is aimed at elucidating the factors that lead to the formation of nanotubes and determining the physiolgical signals that are exchanged between the cells.