Can mechanically stimulated airway epithelial cells regulate fibroblast activity?

We investigated the ability of mechanically stress airway epithelial cells to elicit matrix remodeling in co-cultured fibroblasts. Fibroblast signalling molecules in epithelial cells were found to be sensitive to mechanical stress in the form of transepithelial pressure and solid stress. Also, co-cultured fibroblasts responded to stressed epithelial cells by altering their secretion of airway remodeling proteins. Mechanisms of transduction were suggested according to the response to varying types and conditions of stress application. This study shows that airway remodeling in asthma may be due, in part, to the mechanical stresses experienced by epithelial cells in constricted, buckled airways.