Bronchopulmonary C-fiber activation in allergic asthma: Novel evidence for an involvement of the FGF/FGFR1-IIIc system

Bronchopulmonary C-fibers play an important role in transducing airway inflammation into symptoms of asthma such as reflex bronchospasm, mucus secretion and urge to cough. The mechanisms by which these sensory nerves are activated in airway disease have not yet been worked out. Members of the Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) family, e.g. FGF2, were localized by bronchial epithelial cells and in epithelial and endothelial basement membranes, and were upregulated in the airways in allergic asthma (Shute et al., Thorax. 2004). Since many terminals of sensory C-fibers are located within or beneath the airway epitheliu…