Glial-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Human Airway Smooth Muscle

Investigators found that glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) was expressed in human lung and increased in adult asthma, while human airway smooth muscle (ASM) expresses GDNF and its receptors. They used human ASM cells to test the hypothesis that ASM expression and autocrine signaling by GDNF family of ligands regulated [Ca2+]i.