Aberrant DNA Methylation of Phosphodiestarase 4D Alters Airway Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypes

Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) is a hallmark feature in asthma characterized by exaggerated airway contractile response to stimuli due to increased airway sensitivity and chronic airway remodeling. We have previously shown that allergen-induced AHR in mice is associated with aberrant DNA methylati...

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Published inAmerican journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 241 - 249
Main Authors Lin, Amanda H Y, Shang, Yan, Mitzner, Wayne, Sham, James S K, Tang, Wan-yee
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York American Thoracic Society 01.02.2016
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Summary:Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) is a hallmark feature in asthma characterized by exaggerated airway contractile response to stimuli due to increased airway sensitivity and chronic airway remodeling. We have previously shown that allergen-induced AHR in mice is associated with aberrant DNA methylation in the lung genome, suggesting that AHR could be epigenetically regulated, and these changes might predispose the animals to asthma. Previous studies demonstrated that overexpression of phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) is associated with increased AHR. However, epigenetic regulation of this gene in asthmatic airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) has not been examined. In this study, we aimed to examine the relationship between epigenetic regulation of PDE4D and ASMC phenotypes. We identified CpG site-specific hypomethylation at PDE4D promoter in human asthmatic ASMCs. We next used methylated oligonucleotides to introduce CpG site-specificmethylationatPDE4D promoterandexaminedits effect on ASMCs. We showed that PDE4D methylation decreased cell proliferation and migration of asthmatic ASMCs. We further elucidated that methylated PDE4D decreased PDE4D expression in asthmatic ASMCs, increased cAMP level, and inhibited the aberrant increase in Ca21 level. Moreover, PDE4D methylation reduced the phosphorylation level of downstream effectors of Ca21 signaling, including myosin light chain kinase and p38. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that gene-specificepigenetic changes may predispose ASMCs to asthma through alterations in cell phenotypes. Modulation of ASMC phenotypes by methylated PDE4D oligonucleotides can reverse the aberrant ASMC functions to normal phenotypes. This has provided new insight to the development of novel therapeutic options for this debilitative disease.
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These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:1044-1549
1535-4989
DOI:10.1165/rcmb.2015-0079OC