AJRCCM Editorial Highlights Work by MIRC Scientists
A paper by Drs. Martin Stampfli and Abraham Roos is featured in an editorial piece, as well as on the cover of the latest issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM) [...]
A paper by Drs. Martin Stampfli and Abraham Roos is featured in an editorial piece, as well as on the cover of the latest issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM). The paper by Roos et al. demonstrates increased expression of IL-17A in advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and furthermore provides evidence of a functional role for IL-17A in cigarette smoke-induced lymphoid follicle neogenesis. IL-17A plays a multifaceted role in COPD, and has previously been linked to airway neutrophilia and host defenses in experimental models relevant to COPD. Drs. Bozinovski and Vlahos, the authors of the editorial, point out that IL-17A represents a molecular marker associated with the persistence of cigarette smoke-induced inflammation following smoking cessation. Targeting IL-17A may thus be beneficial to reduce chronic and persistent inflammation, without compromising lung host defenses. The authors of the editorial note that distinct cellular subsets expressing IL-17A may play different roles in airway inflammation and host defenses. Additional studies further defining and investigating the cellular sources of IL-17A in end-stage COPD are thus warranted to determine the contribution of different IL-17A+ subsets in the disease. In light of this, the localization of IL-17A to mast cells, demonstrated by Roos et al., is a finding of particular importance to the field.
Read the editorial in the June issue of AJRCCM.
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