Inflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-8 enhance airway smooth muscle contraction by increasing L-type Ca2+ channel expression.

Inflammation elevates intracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca2+ ]i ) in airway smooth muscle (ASM). The L-type Ca2+ channel (L-VDCC) plays an important role in regulating Ca2+ influx in ASM. However, the role of L-VDCC in the inflammatory cytokine-induced pathology of ASM remains unclear. In the present study, we used calcium imaging and isometric tension measurements to assess the role of L-VDCC in agonist-induced [Ca2+ ]i rise and the associated contractions in mouse ASM, and we used immunoblotting to identify L-VDCC protein expression levels in mouse ASM after exposure to tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) or interleukin-8 (IL-8). Our results showed that high-K+ - or carbachol-induced contractions of mouse ASM were significantly greater after pretreatment with TNF-α or IL-8 for 24 hours. Both verapamil and nifedipine, L-VDCC inhibitors, abolished this increased contraction induced by TNF-α or IL-8 pretreatment. Moreover, TNF-α treatment enhanced carbachol-induced Ca2+ influx in ASM cells, and this effect was abrogated by verapamil. Additionally, immunoblotting results showed that preincubation of mouse ASM with TNF-α or IL-8 also enhanced L-VDCC protein expression. On the basis of these findings, we concluded that proinflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α and IL-8, increase the expression level of L-VDCC, which in turn contributes to augmented agonist-induced ASM contractions. This effect of inflammation on L-VDCC expression in ASM may be associated with airway hyper-responsiveness and involved in the development of asthma.