Up-regulation of Pim-3 in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients and its potential therapeutic role in COPD rat modeling

作者:Yang, Cheng; Li, Li; Guo, Junhua; Zhang, Weiqiang; Zhu, Wenbiao; Rao, Xinhui; Huang, Wenjie*
来源:Pathology Research and Practice, 2017, 213(4): 322-326.
DOI:10.1016/j.prp.2017.01.018

摘要

Background: Pim-3 belongs to the PIM kinase family and plays an important role in promoting inflam7 mation, which is essential in the pathogenesis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). @@@ Methods: lmmunohistochemistry (IHC), western blot, and RT-PCR analyses were performed to assess the expression of Pim-3 in both COPD and healthy lung tissue samples. SMA (Smooth Muscle Actin) and Cyclin D1 expression were detected by IHC. We also constructed animal models for the control, COPD, and Pim-3 inhibition groups, in order to analyze the effects of Pim-3 inhibition on COPD, and the role of Pim-3 in the p38 pathway. @@@ Results: Compared with normal lung tissue, Pim-3 mRNA and protein were up-regulated in COPD tissue. Expression of Cyclin D1 and SMA were also up-regulated in the COPD group. In the animal model experiment, we found that suppression of Pim-3 decreased Pim-3, Cyclin D1, and SMA expression, as well as ameliorated lung damage in COPD patients. The inhibition of Pim-3 also resulted in the suppression of the p38 pathway. @@@ Conclusion: Our study suggests that up-regulation of Pim-3 successfully accelerated COPD development, and aggravated lung damage. The molecular mechanism of Pim-3 in COPD might be related to the p38 pathway, and is correlated with Cyclin Dl and SMA expression.