Background: "Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10" (PTEN) is mostly considered to be a cancer-related gene, and has been suggested to be a new pathway of pathogenesis of asthma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, on PTEN regulation.
Methods: OVA-challenged mice were used as an asthma model to investigate the effect of dexamethasone on PTEN regulation. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect expression levels of PTEN protein in lung tissues. The human A549 cell line was used to explore the possible mechanism of action of dexamethasone on human PTEN regulation in vitro. A luciferase reporter construct under the control of PTEN promoter was used to confirm transcriptional regulation in response to dexamethasone.
Results: PTEN protein was found to be expressed at low levels in lung tissues in asthmatic mice; but the expression was restored after treatment with dexamethasone. In A549 cells, human PTEN was up-regulated by dexamethasone treatment. The promoter-reporter construct confirmed that dexamethasone could regulate human PTEN transcription. Treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor, TSA, could increase PTEN expression in A549 cells, while inhibition of histone acetylase (HAT) by anacardic acid attenuated dexamethasone-induced PTEN expression.
Conclusions: Based on the data a new mechanism is proposed where glucocorticoids treat asthma partly through up-regulation of PTEN expression. The in vitro studies also suggest that the PTEN pathway may be involved in human asthma.