Signalling and transcriptional regulation in inflammatory and immune cells: importance in lung biology and disease.

L iving cells respond to their external environment and to signals from other cells by transducing these signals to different parts of the cell, particularly to the nucleus. This idea was initiated by RALL and SUTHERLAND [1], with the concept of cyclic adenosine monophosphate acting as a second messenger to mediate the action of the first messenger that arrived at the cell surface. Much of cell biology is now focused on dissecting out signalling pathways from the cell membrane to the nucleus and also to other parts of the cell, and on how the ultimate cellular response will be determined by the signalling pathways activated. Many signalling pathways regulate cell growth, cell survival, cell differentiation, cell migration, cell metabolism and transcriptional regulation of inflammatory genes, and it will not be surprising that derangement of these pathways can form the basis of disease processes involved in inflammation.