Looi K, et al. - In study participants ie children with and without asthma, the effect of human rhinovirus (HRV) infection on airway epithelial tight junctions (TJ) expression and barrier function in airway epithelial cells (AEC) was investigated, and a hypothesis was tested that barrier integrity and function is compromised to a greater extent by HRV in AECs from asthmatic children. Between AEC of children with and without asthma, novel intrinsic differences in TJ gene and protein expression were observed. Moreover, it correlated directly the link between HRV infection and the resultant dissociation of epithelial TJ that causes a continued altered barrier function in children with asthma.