Grant: DRA : Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral Program (CGRS D)

Over 15,000 Canadians live with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease where the lungs become scarred and breathing becomes difficult. Air pollution and smoking are known risk factors, but we don't fully understand how they cause or worsen lung scarring. We recently discovered that air pollution contributes to changes in the way genes are turned on or off in the blood of patients with IPF. One gene that is particularly impacted by air pollution is called CRTAP (cartilage-associated protein). CRTAP is a protein that helps to provide structure and support throughout the body. We also found that CRTAP levels are high in IPF lungs, especially in areas with large amounts of scar tissue. The goal of this project is to understand how air pollution impacts CRTAP in the lungs of patients with IPF, and whether we can target this protein to prevent lung scarring in IPF patients. We will use lungs donated by patients with IPF, to determine how their air pollution exposure has altered the way genes are turned on or off in the lungs and if this relates to lung scarring. We will also grow fibroblasts the most important cells within the lung responsible for scaring and expose them to air pollution to see if CRTAP levels change in from patients with IPF and healthy individuals. This is a unique project that, for the first time, will look at the effects of environmental air pollution exposures on changes in the genes, cells, and structure of the lung in IPF. This research will provide evidence to help reduce the risk to patients with IPF from future damage and progressive scarring in response to pollution and may uncover new pathways for treatments. It will also provide evidence to support the need for environmental policies to better protect people living with IPF and other lung diseases.