Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is characterized by impaired lung alveolar and vascular growth. We investigated the hypothesis that neonatal exposure to hyperoxia leads to persistent BPD phenotype…

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung disease in premature infants that results from mechanical ventilation and hyperoxia, among other factors. This disease affects approximately 15,000 prematu re infants annually in the United States. Each infant with BPD incurs a total cost of approximately $225,000 during the initial hospitalization. Infants with severe BPD often develop long-term serious morbidities, including pulmonary hypertension and neurodevelopmental impairment. This further increases

Lamellar bodies (LBs) are tissue-specific lysosome-related organelles in type II alveolar cells that are the main site for the synthesis, storage, and secretion of pulmonary surfactants. Defects in…

Lung function and the mechanics of breathing critically depend on the coating of alveolar spaces with pulmonary surfactant (PS). PS is a lipid–protein complex, consisting mainly of phospholipids and specialized surfactant proteins, that reduces surface tension at the air–liquid interface and thus minimizes the work of breathing. PS is produced by alveolar type 2 cells and stored as densely packed multilamellar structures within lamellar bodies (LBs). PS is secreted into the alveolar lumen via exocytosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic lung disease that leads to respiratory decline caused by scarring and thickening of lung tissues. Multiple pathways contribute to the fibrotic proce…

Despite two U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved antifibrotic drug options, most fibrotic lung diseases remain progressive even on current therapy. Thus, an unmet need remains for the development of novel, effective antifibrotic therapies that have the capability to halt disease progression. ROCK (Rho-associated coiled-coil–forming protein kinase), a mechanosensitive kinase that regulates actin cytoskeletal rearrangements in response to various soluble and mechanical stimuli, plays a critical role

Respiratory viral infections remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Using a murine model of human metapneumovirus, we identified recruitment of a C1q-expressing inflammatory monocyte po…

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has renewed focus on the host response to viral respiratory pathogens. During infection, inflammatory monocytes are recruited to produce proinflammatory mediators and are involved in the phagocytosis of virus-infected cells (1). Importantly, these monocytes facilitate antigen presentation to activate adaptive immune responses (2). Antiviral CD8 + T cells are vital to this adaptive response, as they recognize and eliminate virus-infected cells via the secretion