Grant: Project Grant

Pulmonary fibrosis is progressive scarring of the lungs that is often fatal and challenging to treat. The cause of the scarring remains poorly understood and controversy surrounds how inflammation and the immune system perpetuate the fibrosis. The lung is highly innervated with sensory nerves and growing evidence has revealed the importance of the lung as a sensory organ that surveilles the environment. We discovered that specific sensory neurons called TRPV1 nociceptors have strong regulatory abilities to modulate lung inflammation. This research program will test the hypothesis that the nervous system controls and dampens lung damaging inflammation during fibrosis and are important in preventing lethal fibrosis in mouse models. Harnessing the potential of the nervous system to improve lung repair and scarring could represent new avenues for therapeutic intervention.