Asthmatic Eosinophils Alter the Gene Expression of Extracellular Matrix Proteins in Airway Smooth Muscle Cells and Pulmonary Fibroblasts

The impaired production of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins by airway smooth muscle cells (ASMC) and pulmonary fibroblasts (PF) is a part of airway remodeling in asthma. This process might be influenced by eosinophils that migrate to the airway and abundantly secrete various cytokines, including TGF-β. We aimed to investigate the effect of asthmatic eosinophils on the gene expression of ECM proteins in ASMC and PF. A total of 34 study subjects were recruited: 14 with allergic asthma (AA), 9 with severe non-allergic eosinophilic asthma (SNEA), and 11 healthy subjects (HS). All AA patients underwent bronchial allergen challenge with D. pteronyssinus. The peripheral blood eosinophils were isolated using high-density centrifugation and magnetic separation. The individual cell cultures were made using hTERT ASMC and MRC-5 cell lines and the subjects’ eosinophils. The gene expression of ECM and the TGF-β signaling pathway was analyzed using qRT-PCR. We found that asthmatic eosinophils significantly promoted collagen I, fibronectin, versican, tenascin C, decorin, vitronectin, periostin, vimentin, MMP-9, ADAM33, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 gene expression in ASMC and collagen I, collagen III, fibronectin, elastin, decorin, MMP-2, and TIMP-2 gene expression in PF compared with the HS eosinophil effect. The asthmatic eosinophils significantly increased the gene expression of several canonical and non-canonical TGF-β signaling pathway components in ASMC and PF compared with the HS eosinophil effect. The allergen-activated AA and SNEA eosinophils had a greater effect on these changes. In conclusion, asthmatic eosinophils, especially SNEA and allergen-activated eosinophils, imbalanced the gene expression of ECM proteins and their degradation-regulating proteins. These changes were associated with increased gene expression of TGF-β signaling pathway molecules in ASMC and PF.