Airway Eosinophilic Inflammation Is Attenuated in Conserved Noncoding Sequence-1-Deficient Mice

Background: Conserved noncoding sequence-1 (CNS-1) is an important regulatory element for T helper 2 cytokine expression. IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 expression as well as serum IgE level were attenuated in CNS-1–/– mice. Method: CNS-1–/– and CNS-1+/+ mice were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) followed by antigen challenge. The number of eosinophils and T helper 2 cytokine concentration in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, OVA-specific IgE antibody (Ab) in the serum and bronchial responsiveness to methacholine were examined. Results: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid eosinophilia was significantly attenuated in CNS-1–/– mice compared to CNS-1+/+ mice, which were sensitized with OVA/aluminum once. OVA-specific IgE Ab was also attenuated. When mice were sensitized with OVA/aluminum twice, induction of eosinophilia and OVA-specific IgE Ab was not significantly different between CNS-1–/– and CNS-1+/+ mice. Conclusion: CNS-1 locus regulates eosinophilic inflammation in vivo.