Bronchoconstriction damages airway epithelia by crowding-induced excess cell extrusion. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38574138/)

These scientists wanted to understand why asthma causes inflammation in the airways. They discovered that when the airways get too crowded during an asthma attack, the cells lining the airways get pushed out, causing damage. This damage leads to inflammation and excess mucus production. They found that a common asthma treatment called albuterol did not stop this damage from happening.

However, when they stopped the process that pushes out the cells, called cell extrusion, the damage and inflammation were prevented. This means that by stopping this process, they could potentially prevent asthma attacks from causing inflammation in the first place. This discovery could help scientists find new ways to treat asthma and prevent it from getting worse.

Bagley DC., Russell T., Ortiz-Zapater E., Stinson S., Fox K., Redd PF., Joseph M., Deering-Rice C., Reilly C., Parsons M., Brightling C., Rosenblatt J. Bronchoconstriction damages airway epithelia by crowding-induced excess cell extrusion. Science. 2024 Apr 5;384(6691):66-73. doi: 10.1126/science.adk2758. Epub 2024 Apr 4.