RNASE3 and asthma: In vitro studies have shown that eosinophil granule-derived proteins are partly responsible for the damage seen in asthma as eosinophil cationic protein and major basic protein are both cytotoxic to the bronchial epithelium (16) and have been shown to affect ciliary beat and function (41) and increase non-specific bronchial hyperreactivity (42), all of which are classical pathological findings of asthma (40).