Papers by Blanca Camoretti-mercado
Annals of the American Thoracic Society, Aug 1, 2023
Journal of Biological Chemistry, Jul 1, 2006
Transforming growth factor (TGF)- is present in large amounts in the airways of patients with as... more Transforming growth factor (TGF)- is present in large amounts in the airways of patients with asthma and with other diseases of the lung. We show here that TGF treatment increased transcriptional activation of SM22␣, a smooth muscle-specific promoter, in airway smooth muscle cells, and we demonstrate that this effect stems in part from TGF-induced enhancement of serum response factor (SRF) DNA binding and transcription promoting activity. Overexpression of Smad7 inhibited TGF-induced stimulation of SRF-dependent promoter function, and chromatin immunoprecipitation as well as co-immunoprecipitation assays established that endogenous or recombinant SRF interacts with Smad7 within the nucleus. The SRF binding domain of Smad7 mapped to the C-terminal half of the Smad7 molecule. TGF treatment weakened Smad7 association with SRF, and conversely the Smad7-SRF interaction was increased by inhibition of the TGF pathway through overexpression of a dominant negative mutant of TGF receptor I or of Smad3 phosphorylation-deficient mutant. Our findings thus reveal that SRF-Smad7 interactions in part mediate TGF regulation of gene transcription in airway smooth muscle. This offers potential targets for interventions in treating lung inflammation and asthma.
Journal of Allergy and Therapy, 2012
Airway inflammation, lung remodeling, and Airway Hyperresponsiveness (AHR) are major features of ... more Airway inflammation, lung remodeling, and Airway Hyperresponsiveness (AHR) are major features of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The inflammatory response to allergens, air pollutants, and other insults is likely to play a key role in promoting structural changes in the lung including the overabundance of Airway Smooth Muscle (ASM) seen in asthmatics. These alterations or remodeling could, in turn, impact the immunmodulatory actions of the ASM, the ASM's contractile properties, and the development of AHR. New evidences suggest that airway inflammation and AHR are not tightly related to each other and that the structural component of the airway, mainly the ASM, is a chief driver of AHR. Members of the S100/calgranulins family have been implicated in the regulation of inflammation and cell apoptosis in various systems. S100A12 is highly expressed in neutrophils and is one of the most abundant proteins in the lungs of patients with asthma or COPD. Studies with genetic engineered mice with smooth muscle cell-targeted expression of human S100A12 revealed that S100A12 reduces airway smooth muscle amounts and dampens airway inflammation and airway hyperreactivity in a model of allergic lung inflammation. Thus, targeting airway smooth muscle for instance through delivery of pro-apoptotic S100A12 could represent an attractive means to promote ASM apoptosis and to reduce ASM abundance in asthmatics.
Translational Research, Oct 1, 2009
Asthma is a complex respiratory disease whose incidence has increased worldwide in the last decad... more Asthma is a complex respiratory disease whose incidence has increased worldwide in the last decade. There is currently no cure for asthma. While bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory medications are effective medicines in some asthmatic patients, it is clear that an unmet therapeutic need persists for a subpopulation of individuals with severe asthma. This chronic lung disease is characterized by airflow limitation and lung inflammation and remodeling that includes increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass. In addition to its contractile properties, the ASM also contributes to the inflammatory process by producing active mediators, modifying the extracellular matrix composition, and interacting with inflammatory cells. These undesirable functions make interventions aimed at reducing ASM abundance an attractive strategy for novel asthma therapies. There are at least three mechanisms that could limit the accumulation of smooth muscle-decreased cell proliferation, augmented cell apoptosis, and reduced cell migration into the smooth muscle layer. Inhibitors of the mevalonate pathway or statins hold promise for asthma because they exhibit antiinflammatory, anti-migratory, and anti-proliferative effects in pre-clinical and clinical studies, and they can target the SM. This review will discuss current knowledge of ASM biology and identify gaps in the field in order to stimulate future investigations of the cellular mechanisms controlling ASM overabundance in asthma. Targeting ASM has the potential to be an innovative venue of treatment for patients with asthma.
PubMed, 1994
We have examined changes in the expression of chicken myosin heavy chain (MHC) mRNAs in the heart... more We have examined changes in the expression of chicken myosin heavy chain (MHC) mRNAs in the heart and skeletal muscles during normal development and in regenerating adult muscles. cDNA clones isolated from adult heart and regenerating skeletal muscle libraries revealed more than 98% sequence homology in the 3' untranslated regions. Using specific cDNA probes we have detected ventricular MHC transcripts in the heart and in early developmental stages of fast as well as slow skeletal muscles. The expression of ventricular MHC mRNA in skeletal muscles is especially significant since, in contrast to mammals, the avian ventricular and slow MHC mRNAs are encoded by different genes.
PubMed, Oct 1, 1998
Objective: To clone and characterize the cDNA encoding feline interleukin-5 (IL-5) cDNA and the 1... more Objective: To clone and characterize the cDNA encoding feline interleukin-5 (IL-5) cDNA and the 170 basepairs (bp) of the 5' flanking region of the feline IL-5 gene. Sample population: Blood mononuclear cells from a healthy cat. Procedures: Cells were cultured, stimulated for 48 hours with concanavalin A, and harvested for RNA and DNA isolation. Recovered RNA was used in northern blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses. Resulting cDNA was used for rapid amplification of 3' cDNA ends, dideoxy chain termination sequencing, and primer extension analysis. Results: Full length cDNA was 838 bp, including a 402-bp open reading frame that encoded a precursor protein of 134 amino acids including a putative peptide signal of 19 residues. Homologies of the nucleotide and derived protein sequences between feline and human IL-5 cDNA were 72 and 71%, respectively. There also was homology between the human and predicted feline cytokines at amino acid positions that are critical for IL-5 receptor binding and signal transduction. The 5' flanking region of the feline gene was homologous to corresponding regions of the human (88%) and murine (72%) genes, and included putative transcriptional regulatory elements. Conclusions and clinical relevance: Identification of feline IL-5 cDNA is an important step toward a detailed, fully comprehensive characterization of the mechanisms that may be operative in the pathogenesis of eosinophilic disorders in cats. The striking homology between the human and feline IL-5 genes suggests that cats can be used as animal models for human diseases characterized by eosinophil infiltration of tissues.
Journal of smooth muscle research. Japanese section, Apr 27, 2001
Journal of Molecular Evolution, Oct 1, 1991
We have isolated and characterized five overlapping clones that encompass 3.2 kb and encode a par... more We have isolated and characterized five overlapping clones that encompass 3.2 kb and encode a part of the short subfragment 2, the hinge, and the light meromyosin regions of the myosin heavy chain rod as well as 143 bp of the 3' untranslated portion of the mRNA. Northern blot analysis showed expression of this mRNA mainly in ventricular muscle of the adult chicken heart, with trace levels detected in the atrium. Transient expression was seen in skeletal muscle during development and in regenerating skeletal muscle following freeze injury. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an avian ventricular myosin heavy chain sequence. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that this isoform is a distant homolog of other ventricular and skeletal muscle myosin heavy chains and represents a distinct member of the multigene family of sarcomeric myosin heavy chains. The ventricular myosin heavy chain of the chicken is either paralogous to its counterpart in other vertebrates or has diverged at a significantly higher rate.
The University of Chicago, Chicago, United States of America, Detroit Medical Center / St. John&#... more The University of Chicago, Chicago, United States of America, Detroit Medical Center / St. John's Providence, Chicago, United States of 1 ... America, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America 3 ... Corresponding author's email: [email protected]. ...
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Jan 15, 2017
Background: Airway remodeling (AR) is a prominent feature of asthma and other obstructive lung di... more Background: Airway remodeling (AR) is a prominent feature of asthma and other obstructive lung diseases that is minimally affected by current treatments. The goals of this Official American Thoracic Society (ATS) Research Statement are to discuss the scientific, technological, economic, and regulatory issues that deter progress of AR research and development of therapeutics targeting AR and to propose approaches and solutions to these specific problems. This Statement is not intended to provide clinical practice recommendations on any disease in which AR is observed and/or plays a role. Methods: An international multidisciplinary group from within academia, industry, and the National Institutes of Health, with expertise in multimodal approaches to the study of airway structure and function, pulmonary research and clinical practice in obstructive lung disease, and drug discovery platforms was invited to participate in one internet-based and one face-to-face meeting to address the above-stated goals. Although the majority of the analysis related to AR was in asthma, AR in other diseases was also discussed and considered in the recommendations. A literature search of PubMed was performed to support conclusions. The search was not a systematic review of the evidence. Results: Multiple conceptual, logistical, economic, and regulatory deterrents were identified that limit the performance of AR research and impede accelerated, intensive development of AR-focused therapeutics. Complementary solutions that leverage expertise of academia and industry were proposed to address them. Conclusions: To date, numerous factors related to the intrinsic difficulty in performing AR research, and economic forces that are disincentives for the pursuit of AR treatments, have thwarted the ability to understand AR pathology and mechanisms and to address it clinically. This ATS Research Statement identifies potential solutions for each of these factors and emphasizes the importance of educating the global research community as to the extent of the problem as a critical first step in developing effective strategies for: (1) increasing the extent and impact of AR research and (2) developing, testing, and ultimately improving drugs targeting AR.
Chapman and Hall/CRC eBooks, Aug 20, 2007
... using the formula from Bolton and McCarthy (1962), which considers the sodium concentration,%... more ... using the formula from Bolton and McCarthy (1962), which considers the sodium concentration,% GC content, and the sequence length in the ... The score indicates deviation from the specifiedoptimal design param-eters; a lower penalty score indicates a better primer pair. ...
PubMed, 1993
Based on previous immunological data, cross-reactivity of myosin heavy chain (MHC) with the ventr... more Based on previous immunological data, cross-reactivity of myosin heavy chain (MHC) with the ventricular (V) isoform was observed in primordia of avian skeletal muscles and in regenerating adult anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) muscle. To determine whether this primordial (P) MHC is identical to adult V-MHC gene product, we have cloned and characterized the 3' portion of MHC cDNA that is expressed in ALD muscle at 3 d of regeneration. Comparison of nucleotide sequences between adult V-MHC and P-MHC cDNAs revealed more than 98% homology in the 3'-untranslated (UT) portions of these genes. The expression pattern of P-MHC was analyzed in adult regenerating muscles using total RNA from two fast muscles, posterior latissimus dorsi (PLD) and pectoralis major (PM), as well as from slow ALD and mixed fast/slow gastrocnemius muscles at 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, and 14 d after cold injury. Identical results were obtained by RNase protection assays using either a probe specifying the coding region of adult V-MHC or a P-MHC probe encoding the carboxy end plus the 3'-UT region. The expected protected fragments were detected early from day 2 up to day 6 in ALD muscle. Similar rate of appearance, reaching the highest level at day 3, was observed in PLD, PM, and gastrocnemius muscles. However, the amount and the kinetics of disappearance differed among the various muscles analyzed. In contrast, during development, steady-state levels and kinetics of V-MHC mRNA expression were found to be alike in axial and appendicular muscles. These data strongly suggest the identity of P-MHC as the ventricular isoform and support the concept that expression of P-MHC mRNA is a common feature of developing as well as of all regenerating adult skeletal muscles. Interestingly, no expression of cardiac specific myosin light chain (MLC) 2A was observed after cold injury, suggesting independent regulatory pathways for the two kinds of myosin subunits.
Annual Review of Pathology-mechanisms of Disease, Feb 1, 2008
Airway smooth muscle plays a multifaceted role in the pathogenesis of asthma. We review the curre... more Airway smooth muscle plays a multifaceted role in the pathogenesis of asthma. We review the current understanding of the contribution of airway myocytes to airway inflammation, airway wall remodeling, and airflow obstruction in this prevalent disease syndrome. Together, these roles make airway smooth muscle an attractive target for asthma therapy.
B21. AIRWAY INFLAMMATION: NEW INFORMATION ABOUT MEDIATORS AND BIOMARKERS, 2009
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Papers by Blanca Camoretti-mercado