Damage to the airway epithelium is one prominent feature of chronic asthma. Corticosteroids induce apoptosis in inflammatory cells, which in part explains their ability to suppress airway inflammation. However, corticosteroid therapy does not necessarily reverse epithelial damage. We hypothesized that corticosteroids may induce airway epithelial cell apoptosis as one potential explanation for persistent damage. We tested this hypothesis in cultured primary central airway epithelial cells and in the cell line 1HAEo(-). Treatment with dexamethasone, beclomethasone, budesonide, or triamcinolone each elicited a time-dependent and concentration-dependent cell death. This cell death was associated with cleavage of nuclear chromatin, mitochondrial depolarization, cytochrome c extrusion, activation of caspase-9, and expression of phosphatidylserine on the outer cell membrane. Inhibitors of caspase activity blocked apoptotic cell death, as did overexpression of the apoptosis regulators Bcl-2 or Bcl-x(L). We demonstrated that CD95 ligation is not essential for the corticosteroid-induced apoptosis in airway epithelial cells. These data demonstrate that corticosteroids induce apoptotic cell death of airway epithelium. This raises the possibility that at least one of the major components of chronic airway damage in asthma, epithelial shedding and denudation, may in part result from a major therapy for the disease.

TL. Therapeutic hypothermia cardioprotection via Akt-and nitric oxide-mediated attenuation of mitochondrial oxidants. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 298: H2164-H2173, 2010. First published April 9, 2010 doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00994.2009.-Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is a promising cardioprotective treatment for cardiac arrest and acute myocardial infarction, but its cytoprotective mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we developed a murine cardiomyocyte model of ischemia-reperfusion injury to better determine the mechanisms of TH cardioprotection. We hypothesized that TH manipulates Akt, a survival kinase that mediates mitochondrial protection by modulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) generation. Cardiomyocytes, isolated from 1-to 2-day-old C57BL6/J mice, were exposed to 90 min simulated ischemia and 3 h reperfusion. For TH, cells were cooled to 32°C during the last 20 min of ischemia and the first hour of reperfusion. Cell viability was evaluated by propidium iodide and lactate dehydrogenase release. ROS production was measured by 6-carboxy-2=,7=-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate and mitochondrial membrane potential (⌬⌿m) by 5,5=,6,6=-tetrachloro-1,1=,3,3=-tetraethylbenzimidazoly-carbocyanine iodide (JC-1). Phospho (p)-Akt (Thr308), p-Akt (Ser473), and phosphorylated heat shock protein 27 (p-HSP27) (Ser82) were analyzed by Western blot analysis. TH attenuated reperfusion ROS generation, increased NO, maintained ⌬⌿m, and decreased cell death [19.3 Ϯ 3.3% (n ϭ 11) vs. 44.7 Ϯ 2.7% (n ϭ 10), P Ͻ 0.001]. TH also increased p-Akt during ischemia before reperfusion. TH protection and attenuation of ROS were blocked by the inhibition of Akt and NO synthase but not by a cGMP inhibitor. HSP27, a regulator of Akt, also exhibited increased phosphorylation (Ser82) during ischemia with TH. We conclude that TH cardioprotection is mediated by enhanced Akt/HSP27 phosphorylation and enhanced NO generation, resulting in the attenuation of ROS generation and the maintenance of ⌬⌿m following ischemia-reperfusion.ischemia-reperfusion; reactive oxygen species; cardiomyocyte DESPITE INITIAL resuscitation, many cardiac arrest patients die within hours after the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) (12). This ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is likely related to significant increases in tissue oxidant stress seen within minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and ROSC (19). Recently, it has been demonstrated that significant levels of oxidant stress in the heart following cardiac arrest originate from the mitochondria within minutes of reperfusion (11). In isolated cardiomyocytes, simulated I/R induces mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, contractile dysfunction, mitochondrial release of cytochrome c, caspase activation, opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, and ultimately cardiomyocyte death (4, 29, 40).To date, therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is the only treatment currently known to improve survival in the clinical postcardiac arrest setting (27). Such cool...

Changes in epithelial cell shape can lead to cell death and detachment. Actin filaments are cleaved during apoptosis, but whether disruption in the actin cytoskeletal network, as one manifestation of cell shape change, can itself induce apoptosis is not known. We tested this hypothesis in the airway epithelial cell line 1HAEo(-) and in primary airway epithelial cells by preventing actin filament elongation with cytochalasin D or by aggregating actin filaments with jasplakinolide. Disruption of actin filament integrity promptly induced apoptosis in adherent epithelial cells within 5 h. Jasplakinolide-induced apoptosis did not disrupt focal adhesions, whereas cytochalasin D-induced apoptosis decreased focal adhesion protein expression and occurred despite ligation of the fibronectin receptor. Death induction was abrogated by the caspase inhibitors z-VAD-fmk and Ac-DEVD-cho but not by blocking the Fas (CD95) receptor. Whereas cytochalasin D--induced apoptosis was associated with cleavage of pro-caspase-8, jasplakinolide-induced apoptosis was not. Both agents induced formation of a death-inducing signaling complex. These data demonstrate that disruption of actin filament integrity with either cytochalasin D or jasplakinolide induces apoptosis in airway epithelial cells but by different mechanisms, and suggest that actin may be an early modulator of apoptotic commitment.