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交流。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，但对于脂质却没有同样的研究。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揭示特定的脂质介质，称为类二十烷，在控制气道细胞功能，特别是气道平滑肌细胞中的作用。先前的研究表明，气道平滑肌和肺能够产生多种类二十烷酸。有了这笔资金，我们将：

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).