The role of TGFβ‑HGF‑Smad4 axis in regulating the proliferation of mouse airway progenitor cells

Li,Xue; Yang,Li; Sun,Xin; Wu,Junping; Li,Yu; Zhang,Qiuyang; Zhang,Yingchao; Li,Kuan; Wu,Qi; Chen,Huaiyong

doi:10.3892/mmr.2017.7636

The role of TGFβ‑HGF‑Smad4 axis in regulating the proliferation of mouse airway progenitor cells

Authors:
- Xue Li
- Li Yang
- Xin Sun
- Junping Wu
- Yu Li
- Qiuyang Zhang
- Yingchao Zhang
- Kuan Li
- Qi Wu
- Huaiyong Chen
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Affiliations: Department of Basic Medicine, Haihe Clinical College of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300350, P.R. China, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin 300052, P.R. China, Key Research Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention for State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300350, P.R. China, Respiratory Department, Baodi Clinical College of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 301800, P.R. China
Published online on: September 26, 2017 https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2017.7636
Pages: 8155-8163
Copyright: © Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The interaction between airway epithelial progenitor cells and their microenvironment is critical for maintaining lung homeostasis. This microenvironment includes fibroblast cells, which support the growth of airway progenitor cells. However, the mechanism of this support is not fully understood. In the present study, the authors observed that inhibition of transforming growth factor (TGF)‑β signal with SB431542 promotes the expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in fibroblast cells. The HGF receptor, c‑Met, is expressed on airway progenitor cells; HGF promotes the colony‑forming ability of airway progenitor cells. The deletion of Smad4 in airway progenitor cells increases the colony‑forming ability, suggesting that Smad4 plays a negative role in the regulating the proliferation of airway progenitor cells. These data demonstrated that the regulation of airway progenitor cells by TGF‑β depends on TGF‑βR1/2 on stromal cells, rather than on epithelial progenitor cells. These data suggested a role for the TGF‑β‑TGF‑βR1/2‑HGF‑Smad4 axis in airway epithelial homeostasis and sheds new light on the interaction between airway progenitor cells and their microenvironment.

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