Elucidating the Role of the Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic Acid Family of Eicosanoids in Airway Smooth Muscle Physiology

肺是一个复杂的器官，由许多不同类型的细胞组成，包括气道平滑肌。这些细胞需要相互沟通，以促进肺的正常发育和功能。细胞可以使用各种不同的分子来相互通信。细胞用来交流的分子包括蛋白质和脂质。关于蛋白质在帮助肺细胞交流中的作用已经做了很多研究，但对于脂质却不能这么说。用于交流的脂质分子是多种多样的，我们对它们在肺部的功能知之甚少。我提出的研究计划将致力于解开特定的脂质介质，称为类花生酸，在控制气道细胞功能，特别是气道平滑肌细胞的作用。以前的工作表明，气道平滑肌和肺能够产生各种类二十烷酸。有了这笔资金，我们将： 1)发现气道中的每个细胞产生哪种脂质介质。 2)了解平滑肌产生的脂质介质如何影响气道平滑肌细胞的功能。 3)了解其他气道细胞产生的脂质介质如何影响气道平滑肌细胞的功能。 这项工作将为研究界提供关键信息，这将进一步加深我们对气道细胞使用脂质进行通信和调节肺生理的理解。此外，它将为类花生酸如何控制平滑肌收缩提供新的见解，这将使研究其他器官（心血管，胃肠病学，泌尿学）平滑肌的研究人员受益。

The lungs are a complex organ made up of many different cell types, including airway smooth muscle. These cells need to communicate with each other to facilitate proper lung development and function. Cells can use a variety of different molecules to communicate with each other. The molecules that cells use to communicate include proteins and lipids. There has been much research done on the role of proteins in helping lung cells communicate but the same cannot be said for lipids. Lipid molecules used for communication are diverse and we know very little about their function in the lungs. My proposed research program will work towards unraveling the role of specific lipid mediators, called eicosanoids, in controlling airway cell function, specifically the airway smooth muscle cells. Previous work shows that the airway smooth muscle and the lung are capable of producing a variety of eicosanoids. With this funding we will: 1) Discover what kind of lipid mediators are made by each cell in the airway. 2) Understand how lipid mediators made by smooth muscle influence the function of airway smooth muscle cells. 3) Understand how lipid mediators made by other airway cells influence the function of airway smooth muscle cells. This work will provide key information to the research community that will further our understanding of cells of the airways use lipids to communicate and regulate lung physiology. Additionally, it will provide new insight into how eicosanoids control smooth muscle contraction which will benefit researchers studying smooth muscle in other organs (cardiovascular, gastroenterology, urology).