Airway smooth muscle cell hyperplasia: a therapeutic target in airway remodeling in asthma?

Severe asthma is characterized by airway remodeling due, in part, to increases in airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass. Regulation of ASM hyperplasia is considered an attractive therapeutic target for the potential treatment of airway remodeling in asthma. In order to develop anti-remodeling drugs, researchers have utilized cell culture techniques to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying ASM cell proliferation and to identify the critical cell cycle events that regulate ASM cell growth. Attractive lead compounds that have emerged from in vitro studies can now be examined in new animal models of airway remodeling, thus providing tools to design novel therapies to prevent or abrogate airway remodeling.