Pranlukast is a selective cysteinyl leukotriene₁ (cysLT₁) receptor antagonist, and is now widely used in the treatment of asthma. The anti-asthmatic effect of pranlukast may be rendered not only by antileukotriene activity, but also by other pharmacological activity. This study was designed to investigate whether pranlukast had inhibitory effects on nuclear factor-ĸB (NF-ĸB) activation and mucin gene expression in cultured human epithelial cells. Luciferase assay was mainly used for analysis. Cultured epithelial cells were transfected with NF-ĸB luciferase vector, MUC2 or MUC5AC luciferase vectors. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) significantly increased NF-ĸB activation in NCI-H292 cells, which was inhibited by the pretreatment by pranlukast in a dose-dependent manner. Either LTD₄ or pranlukast alone did not increase NF-ĸB activation in NCI-H292 cells. Pranlukast also inhibited NF-ĸB activation induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Pranlukast also significantly inhibited LPS-induced MUC2 mRNA expression by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis in NCI-H292 cells. Pranlukast also inhibited LPS-induced MUC2 gene expression in HM3-MUC2 cells. However, pranlukast did not inhibit MUC5AC gene transcription activity induced by lipoteichoic acid (LTA) in NCI-H292 cells. These results suggest that pranlukast may inhibit NF-ĸB activation and MUC2 gene transcription through pathways distinct from cysLT₁ receptor antagonism in cultured human epithelial cells.

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We have developed an air-liquid interface culture system for human nasal epithelial cells that differentiate into mucociliary phenotypes in a defined serum-free medium. Dissociated cells obtained from nasal polyps were cultured on a collagen gel substrate. At confluence, the cells lost characteristics of differentiated cells, and secretory cell and ciliated cell differentiation appeared after 7 days in an air-liquid interface. After 21 days, about half of the epithelial cells were stained with Alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff stain or monoclonal antibody HCS18, which was directed against human nasal mucin specific for epithelial secretory (goblet) cells. The quantitative examination using the antibody HCS18 revealed that the antibody-reactive nasal mucin was secreted only on the apical side of the cultures, and interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha stimulated these mucus secretions. The culture system with an antimucin monoclonal antibody developed in this study should be useful for studying polarized mucus secretion from human nasal epithelial cells.