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Synergistic mucus secretion by histamine and IL-4 through TMEM16A in airway epithelium

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AJP Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology

Published online on

Abstract

Histamine is an important mediator of allergic reactions, and mucus hypersecretion is a major allergic symptom. However, the direct effect of histamine on mucus secretion from airway mucosal epithelia has not been clearly demonstrated. TMEM16A is a Ca2+-activated chloride channel, and it is closely related to fluid secretion in airway mucosal epithelia. We investigated whether histamine directly induces fluid secretion from epithelial cells or submucosal glands (SMG) and mechanisms related therewith in allergic airway diseases. In pig airway tissues from nose or trachea, histamine was a potent secretagogue that directly induced strong responses. However, gland secretion from human nasal tissue was not induced by histamine even in allergic rhinitis patients. H1R and H2R were not noted in SMG by in situ hybridization. Cultured primary human nasal epithelial (NHE) cells were used for the measurement of short circuit current changes with the Ussing chamber. Histamine induced slight responses of anion secretions under normal conditions. The response was enhanced by IL-4 stimulation through TMEM16A, which might be related to fluid hypersecretion in allergic rhinitis. Pretreatment with IL-4 augmented the histamine response that was suppressed by a TMEM16A inhibitor. TMEM16A expression was enhanced by 24 h treatment of IL-4 in HNE cells. The expression of TMEM16A was significantly elevated in an allergic rhinitis group, compared to a control group. We elucidated histamine-induced fluid secretions in synergy with IL-4 through TMEM16A in the human airway epithelium. In addition, we observed species differences between pig and human in terms of gland secretion to histamine.