About the Authors

Nicole Bedke

Affiliation Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

David Sammut

Affiliation Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Ben Green

Affiliation Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Valia Kehagia

Affiliation Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Patrick Dennison

Affiliations Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, National Institute for Health Research, Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Gisli Jenkins

Affiliation University of Nottingham, Clinical Sciences Building, Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Amanda Tatler

Affiliation University of Nottingham, Clinical Sciences Building, Nottingham City Hospital, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Peter H. Howarth

Affiliations Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, National Institute for Health Research, Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Stephen T. Holgate

Affiliations Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, National Institute for Health Research, Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Donna E. Davies

donnad@soton.ac.uk

Affiliations Academic Unit of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, National Institute for Health Research, Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

DED and STH are co-founders of Synairgen Research Ltd. and hold shares in Synairgen plc. Synairgen is currently developing inhaled IFN-β for treatment of virus-induced asthma exacerbations. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: NB DED STH GJ. Performed the experiments: NB AT GJ. Analyzed the data: NB DED AT GJ. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: GJ. Wrote the paper: NB DED STH GJ PHH. Recruiting normal and asthmatic volunteers: DS BG VK PD. Performing bronchospies: DS BG VK PD. Collecting bronchial brushings: DS BG VK PD.