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closeAuthor Summary
Posted by RebeccaGreen on 31 Aug 2009 at 13:25 GMT
This Author Summary was part of the peer reviewed paper. However, since PLOSone editorial process changed since the submission of the paper, I was told to add it back in the forum.
Author Summary
A newly discovered gene may provide insight into the altered innate immune responses seen in patients with COPD and other lung diseases.
We developed a method to model the innate immune response of human smokers by exposing a species of nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, to cigarette smoke and bacterial infection. The actions of many genes are very similar between humans and these animals. By looking at how C. elegans responded to smoke and infection, we identified a gene that is expressed in human lungs, that exhibits increased expression in humans in response to infection, and that exhibits decreased expression in bronchial cells from COPD patients. This gene may play a role in human COPD and the nematode model could be used to find other genes that may be important to fighting this disease.
As we learn more about the genes involved in COPD and their roles, we will be better able to identify treatments for the disease.