Roles of Dectin-1 in Allergic Airway Inflammation

Asthma is a chronic allergic inflammatory disease of the airways. The symptoms can be controlled by inhaled corticosteroids together with long-acting β2 agonists in the majority of patients; however, in some patients, their symptoms remain uncontrolled even under intensive treatment. Although underlying mechanisms of the heterogeneous responses to the treatment are largely unknown, a series of recent epidemiological studies have suggested a link between the severity of asthma and the sensitization to fungi. Dectin-1, a C-type lectin receptor expressed on myeloid cells and plays protective roles against fungi by recognizing a cell-wall component of fungi, has recently been suggested to be involved in the development of severe asthma. In this review, we summarize the roles of Dectin-1 in the pathogenesis of severe asthma and discuss the possibility of its therapeutic application.