AlveOlism: How Lipid CatabOlism fuels AlveOlar Regeneration

According to scientific studies, patients with metabolic diseases including obesity, elevated blood pressure, and type II diabetes are more likely to develop chronic idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis than healthy people. Unfortunately, this type of lung disease is very aggressive and, without appropriate treatment, leads to the death of patients after just a few years. The two approved drugs Pirfenidon and Nintedanib may delay the progression of the disease, but cannot cure it. In order to develop new and better therapies, we must first understand exactly why idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis continues to progress inevitably. Normally, the lungs can recover very well from minor and major damage caused by dust, smoke, toxic gases, viruses, bacteria and the like on a daily basis. In the case of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, however, this is unfortunately no longer possible. The increased incidence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in patients suffering from metabolic disease was an indication for us that metabolic problems may also manifest in the lungs. In particular, we believe that certain cells, which are essential for the correct structural composition and repair of the alveoli, have an abnormal cell metabolism and are therefore no longer fully functional. In our research project, we will therefore use state-of-the-art molecular biological and biochemical methods to investigate the differences in cell metabolism between lung cells from fibrotic and normal lungs. We will test how we can normalize the metabolism of lung cells in fibrotic lungs with pharmacological substances, and whether this leads to an improvement in the lung`s ability to repair itself. A very important goal of our project is to publish our research results in high-impact international journals. This should enable us and the global research community to develop improved therapeutic approaches to better treat patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the future.