Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) on the permeablily of monolayer
bronchial epithelial cells in vitro. Methods Cultured human bronchial epithelial cell line 16HBE was exposed to 0.1 or 1 ng/ml
TSLP for 0, 0.5, 6, 12, or 24 h, and the epithelial monolayer permeability was assessed by measuring transepithelial electrical
resistance (TER), permeability to FITC-labeled dextran (FITC-DX) and expression of E-cadherin. Results Compared with the
control cells group, 16HBE cell monolayer showed significantly increased TER (P<0.001) and decreased FITC-DX fluorescence
in the lower chamber (P<0.05) following exposure to 0.1 and 1 ng/ml TSLP, but these changes were not dose-dependent.
Exposure to 0.1 ng/ml TSLP resulted in significantly increased expression of E-cadherin. The 16HBE monolayer exposed to 0.1
ng/ml TSLP for 24 h showed the most obvious increase of TER and E-cadherin expression (P<0.05); FITC-DX fluorescence level
was markedly decreased after TSLP exposure for 12 h and 24 h (P<0.05), and the effect was more obvious in 12 h group.
Conclusion TSLP can protect the barrier function of normal bronchial epithelial cells in vitro.