Helmholtz Munich

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Immune networks in chronic lung diseases

Our scientific focus is to understand the contribution of the immune system to organ fibrosis. Fibrosis is a common final outcome of most chronic inflammatory diseases, especially chronic lung diseases.

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Graphic illustration of lung fibrosis | Angelika Cramer

To date, as many as 45% of all deaths in the developed world are related to pathological tissue remodeling. Chronic lung diseases (CLD) are the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide. Among CLD, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and lethal fibroproliferative disease of the lung, with unknown etiology. IPF is characterized by progressive fibrosis and irreversible loss of lung function, with a median survival, or time to lung transplantation, of about 3 years after diagnosis. In many organs, innate and adaptive immunity contributes to fibrogenesis. Rising evidence shows that abnormal immune responses are implicated in IPF pathophysiology.

Functional assessment of interactions between mononuclear myeloid cells and lung structural cells
Identification of key ligand/receptor interactions in immune-structural lung cell crosstalk
Molecular characterization of in immune-structural lung cell interaction
Target evaluation in in-vitro models