Acute lung injury (ALI) is associated with high morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients.
At present, the functional contribution of airway mucins to ALI is unknown. We hypothesized
that excessive mucus production could be detrimental during lung injury. Initial
transcriptional profiling of airway mucins revealed a selective and robust induction of
MUC5AC upon cyclic mechanical stretch exposure of pulmonary epithelia (Calu-3).
Additional studies confirmed time-and stretch-dose-dependent induction of MUC5AC …