About the Authors

Louise V. Wain

louisewain@le.ac.uk

Affiliation Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Linda Odenthal-Hesse

Affiliation Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Razan Abujaber

Affiliation Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Ian Sayers

Affiliation Division of Respiratory Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Caroline Beardsmore

Affiliations Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom, Institute for Lung Health, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom

Erol A. Gaillard

Affiliations Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom, Institute for Lung Health, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom

Sally Chappell

Affiliation School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Cristian M. Dogaru

Affiliation Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Tricia McKeever

Affiliation School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Tamar Guetta-Baranes

Affiliation School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Noor Kalsheker

Affiliation School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Claudia E. Kuehni

Affiliation Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Ian P. Hall

Affiliation Division of Respiratory Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

Martin D. Tobin

Affiliations Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom, Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom, Institute for Lung Health, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom

Edward J. Hollox

Affiliation Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

Louise V. Wain, Ian Sayers, Ian P. Hall, Martin D. Tobin, Edward J. Hollox and Linda Odenthal-Hesse have received funding from Pfizer Ltd (not directly relating to this project). There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: LVW IS CB EAG CMD NK CEK MDT EJH. Performed the experiments: LOH RA EJH. Analyzed the data: LVW LOH RA IS CMD MDT EJH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: LVW LOH RA IS CB EAG SC CMD TM TGB NK CEK IPH MDT EJH. Wrote the paper: LVW LOH RA IS CB EAG SC CMD TM TGB NK CEK IPH MDT EJH.