Activation of the cAMP/cAMP-dependent PKA pathway leads to relaxation of airway smooth muscle (ASM). The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the small heat shock-related protein HSP20 in mediating PKA-dependent ASM relaxation. Human ASM cells were engineered to constitutively express a green fluorescent protein-PKA inhibitory fusion protein (PKI-GFP) or GFP alone. Activation of the...

Model checking as a method for automatic tool support for verification highly stimulates industry’s interests. It is limited, however, with respect to the size of the systems’ state space. In earlier work, we developed an interface between the ASM Workbench and the SMV model checker that allows model checking of finite ASM models. In this work, we add a means for abstraction in case the model t...

Abstract State Machines(ASMs) constitute the basis of an alternative approach to mathematical modelling of discrete dynamic systems. The ASM approach provides an expressive means to specify the operational behavior of a system, but it does not come equipped with a(fixed) logical proof system. Several formal techniques of verifying correctness of ASM designs based on a translation into variants ...

Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) is a defining characteristic of asthma that refers to the capacity of the airways to undergo exaggerated narrowing in response to stimuli that do not result in comparable degrees of airway narrowing in healthy subjects. Airway smooth muscle (ASM) contraction mediates airway narrowing, but it remains uncertain as to whether the smooth muscle is intrinsically alte...

Airway smooth muscle (ASM) remodeling is a hallmark in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidases (NOXs) produced reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in COPD pathogenesis. In the present study, the expression of NOX4 and its correlation with the ASM hypertrophy/hyperplasia, clinical pulmonary functions, and the ex...

G protein-coupled receptors are the most pervasive signaling superfamily in the body and act as receptors to endogenous agonists and drugs. For β-agonist-mediated bronchodilation, the receptor-G protein-effector network consists of the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR), Gs, and adenylyl cyclase, expressed on airway smooth muscle (ASM). Using ASM-targeted transgenesis, we previously explored which o...

BACKGROUND Asthma is characterized by variable airflow obstruction, airway inflammation, airway hyper-responsiveness and airway remodelling. Airway smooth muscle (ASM) hyperplasia is a feature of airway remodelling and contributes to bronchial wall thickening. We sought to investigate the expression levels of chemokines in primary cultures of ASM cells from asthmatics vs healthy controls and to...

CD4(+) T helper (TH)1- and TH2-type cytokines reportedly play an important role in the pathobiology of asthma. Recent evidence suggests that proasthmatic changes in airway smooth muscle (ASM) responsiveness may be induced by the autocrine release of certain proinflammatory cytokines by the ASM itself. We examined whether TH1- and TH2-type cytokines are expressed by atopic asthmatic sensitized A...

Jesudason, E. C., N. P. Smith, M. G. Connell, D. G. Spiller, M. R. H. White, D. G. Fernig, and P. D. Losty. Peristalsis of airway smooth muscle is developmentally regulated and uncoupled from hypoplastic lung growth. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 291: L559–L565, 2006. First published April 7, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00498.2005.—Prenatal airway smooth muscle (ASM) peristalsis appears coup...

Use of long-acting beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (beta2AR) agonists to treat asthma incurs an increased risk of asthma morbidity with impaired bronchodilation and heightened bronchoconstriction, reflecting the adverse effects of prolonged homologous beta2AR desensitization on airway smooth muscle (ASM) function. Since phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) regulates ASM relaxation and contractility, we exami...