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，包括呼吸道平滑肌。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类。关于蛋白质在帮助肺细胞沟通中的作用，已经做了很多研究，但对于脂质来说就不是这样了。用于交流的脂质分子种类繁多，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被称为二十烷基类的特定脂质介质在控制呼吸道细胞功能中的作用，特别是呼吸道平滑肌细胞。以前的工作表明，呼吸道平滑肌和肺能够产生各种二十烷类化合物。有了这笔资金，我们将：1)发现呼吸道中的每个细胞都产生了什么样的脂质介质。2)了解由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)了解其他呼吸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，促进我们对呼吸道细胞的了解，利用脂质来沟通和调节肺生理。此外，它还将为二十烷类化合物如何控制平滑肌收缩提供新的见解，这将有助于研究其他器官(心血管、胃肠病学、泌尿学)的平滑肌。

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).