Until not so long ago, proteases were considered to be mere scissors, with the ECM as their main target, either for degradative or remodeling purposes. However, it is becoming obvious that protease actions are not limited to ECM degradation. Indeed, cells themselves have been shown to be targets of proteases, and PARs have proven to be an important family of cell membrane receptors through whic...

Congenital chest malformations may affect the foregut, pulmonary airway, vasculature, chest wall, and mediastinum. An understanding of fetal chest masses and their complications is essential for patient counseling, appropriate management of pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal care planning. Ultrasonography is the primary imaging modality used for the prenatal evaluation of chest malformations. Ma...

Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently suggested that prolonged inhalation of water aerosol containing biocide in humidifiers can bring about rapidly progressive respiratory fibrosis, which killed more than nine people, including four pregnant women in Korea, based on epidemiologic and toxicological studies [1-4]. It also ordered banning of six consumer products containing th...

Nitric oxide (NO), generated by NO synthase (NOS), is an important mediator of physiological processes in the airway and lung parenchyma, and there is evidence that the pulmonary expression of the endothelial isoform of NOS (eNOS) is developmentally regulated. The purpose of the present study was to delineate the cellular distribution of expression of eNOS in the developing respiratory epitheli...

The airway epithelium, a pseudostratified layer of cells lining the tracheobronchial tree, is the primary barrier protecting the lungs from environmental pollutants, toxins, allergens, and microbes present in the inhaled air. This function is provided by the unique histologic architecture of the differentiated airway epithelium, composed of 4 principal cell types: ciliated, secretory, intermedi...

MODELING OF HUMAN DISEASE in animals forms the basis of much of biomedical research. Animal models have been used to explore normal physiology, the pathophysiology of human disorders, and to test the safety and efficacy of new therapies in preclinical studies. In the field of lung research, much of our understanding of lung physiology under normal and pathological conditions derives from classi...

MUCOCILIARY TRANSPORT IS a vital component of host defense and plays a crucial role in the removal of foreign materials within the airways. A dysfunction of ciliary beating can lead to serious respiratory problems such as airflow obstructions or Kartagener syndrome. The airway ciliary beat frequency (CBF) increases in response to a variety of stimulations, such as parasympathetic or sympathetic...

Since REISSEISEN [1] first described the airway smooth muscle (ASM) of the bronchial tree extending from the central airways to the level of the membranous bronchiole in 1822, ignorance of the physiological function of this prominent component of the airways in health and disease has continued. The above question will surely be answered one day, when a model of conducting airways devoid of ASM ...

Vajner L. , V. Konrádová, J . Uhl ík , J . Zocová: Mucin Histochemistry of Tracheal Goblet Cells after Oral Administration of Ambroxol. Acta Vet. Brno 2001, 70: 9-13. Previous studies on the effect of various mucolytic drugs on the tracheal epithelium ultrastructure revealed ambroxol as the most harmful one. To complete these studies, we decided to evaluate the effect of ambroxol on the glycoco...

Orthogonal arrays are found on plasma membranes of glial cells, in the central nervous system, on muscle plasma membranes at neuromuscular junctions, and on a variety of epithelial cells. These structures have been correlated with ion flux. With the aid of freeze fracture technique, orthogonal particle arrays were found on plasma membranes on airway epithelial cells of rats and hamsters. They h...