The re-epithelialization process of the airway involves spreading and migration followed by cell proliferation. Scaffold IQ domain GTPase-activating protein (IQGAP1), an effector of Rho GTPases, is a key component in a series of cell processes, although its exact mechanism in injury and repair of the airway is still unclear. In this study, we utilized a widely used model in vitro by scratching bronchial epithelial cells (BECs). At different time points after scratching, the amounts of IQGAP1 in mRNA and protein were greater than that in the control. PKCε-mediated phosphorylation of IQGAP1 was involved in the process of injury and repair. The overexpression of PKCε or treatment with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (the PKC activator) promoted wound closure. On the contrary, the group treated with GF109203X (the PKC inhibitor) had the opposite effect. Scratching or overexpression of IQGAP1 induced increasing amounts of total β-catenin and the transposition of β-catenin from the cytoplasm into the nucleus. These results activated the T cell factor/lymphoid enhanced factor and induced expression levels of its target genes of c-myc and cyclin D1. The reduction of IQGAP1 by the transfection of small interference RNA of IQGAP1 attenuated these effects and directly impaired the scratching-induced wound closure. Taken together, our results suggest that IQGAP1 promotes cell proliferation and phosphorylation of IQGAP1 is involved in the process of wound closure in BECs.

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