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Airway smooth muscle (ASM) is considered to be an end-target cell for the effects of mediators released during airway wall inflammation. Several reports suggest that activated ASM may be capable of generating various proinflammatory cytokines. We investigated the effects of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- α , a potent proinflammatory cytokine, on cultured human ASM cells by examining the expression and release of the cytokine interleukin (IL)-6, cell proliferation, and the expression pattern of c-fos and c-jun, two nuclear proto-oncogenes constituting the activator protein-1 transcription factor. Growth-arrested cell monolayers were stimulated with human recombinant TNF- α in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. TNF- α stimulated the expression of IL-6 messenger RNA (mRNA), which was detected after 15 min, reaching a maximum at 1 h. IL-6 protein was readily detected in ASM cell–conditioned …