Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 is highly expressed in bronchial epithelial cells of untreated asthma and it increases cell proliferation along with fibronectin production in airway constitutive cells

Background Type 2 helper T-cell cytokines including IL-13 play a central role in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma (BA). During the course of our research, our attention was drawn to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) as one of the molecules that were induced from bronchial epithelial cells (BECs) by IL-13 stimulation. DPP4 could become a new biomarker or therapeutic target. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of DPP4 in the asthmatic airway, and its role in the pathophysiology of asthma.