CFTR Function and Cigarette Smoke
Scientists are looking at how the CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator) potentiator, Ivacaftor, might be used in COPD, specifically chronic bronchitis. They found that cigarette smoking reduces CFTR activity in lung tissue, and that exposing the lung cells directly to a CFTR potentiator reverses this effect. While the vast …