Smooth muscle in tissue remodeling and hyper-reactivity: airways and arteries.

ABSTRACT

Smooth muscle comprises a key functional component of both the airways and their supporting vasculature. Dysfunction of smooth muscle contributes to and exacerbates a host of breathing-associated pathologies such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary hypertension. These diseases may be marked by airway and/or vascular smooth muscle hypertrophy, proliferation and hyper-reactivity, and related conditions such as fibrosis and extracellular matrix remodeling. This review will focus on the contribution of airway or vascular smooth dysfunction to common airway diseases.