Searching across hundreds of databases

Our searching services are busy right now. Your search will reload in five seconds.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

An "ex vivo model" contributing to the diagnosis and evaluation of new drugs in cystic fibrosis.

Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Societa italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale | 2017

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene. About 2000 mutations have been described so far. We setup an ex vivo model of human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) to study CF patients testing the effect of novel mutations and molecular therapies. We performed sampling (by brushing), followed by culture and analysis of HNECs using a series of molecular techniques. We performed 50 brushings from CF patients and controls. Using cultured cells, we: i) demonstrated the widely heterogeneous CFTR expression in patients and in controls; ii) defined the splicing effect of a CFTR mutation; iii) assessed the CFTR gating activity in patients bearing different mutations; iv) demonstrated that butyrate significantly enhances CFTR expression. Based on our data, we can conclude: 1) HNEC brushing is performed without anaesthesia and is well tolerated in all CF patients (children and adults); 2) HNECs can be preserved for up to 48 hours before culture allowings multicentre studies; 3) HNECs culture can be considered a suitable model to study the molecular effects of new CFTR gene mutations and/or uncertain meaning specific mutations of carriers; 4) an ex vivo model of HNECs may be used to evaluate, before human use, the effect of new drugs on patients' cells bearing specific CFTR mutations; 5) the methodology is adequate for a quantitative measurement, by fluorescence, of the CFTR gating activity of the HNECs from patients with different genotypes identifying: a) CF patients bearing two severe mutations with an activity < 10% (compared to controls - 100%); b) CF patients bearing at least a mild mutation with an activity of 10-20%; c) CF carriers (heterozygous subjects) with an activity between 40-70%.

Pubmed ID: 27897275 RIS Download

Research resources used in this publication

None found

Additional research tools detected in this publication

Antibodies used in this publication

None found

Associated grants

None

Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.

This is a list of tools and resources that we have found mentioned in this publication.


SigmaPlot (tool)

RRID:SCR_003210

Statistical analysis and scientific graphing software for Windows OS.

View all literature mentions