A study of the endothelium in pulmonary fibrosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study of the endothelium in pulmonary fibrosis
IRAS ID
274814
Contact name
Simon Hart
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a progressive incurable scarring disease of the lungs that affects 30,000 people in the UK. The biology of the disease is poorly understood, but there has been little study into the contribution of endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the lungs.
Our aim is to investigate the role of the lung endothelium in driving fibrosis.Objective 1:
Mimic the diseased state in our laboratory using a cell model with cultured endothelial cells from human lungs (commercially available, called human lung microvascular endothelial cells) exposed to serum (from a blood sample) from patients with PF. For controls we will use serum from healthy donors (without PF) or commercially bought human serum. We will compare how the endothelial cells behave, focusing on cellular functions that could drive fibrosis.
Examples of assays to be performed include analysis of proteins and RNA (the cellular code for protein production) produced by endothelial cells in response to PF serum and ability of the endothelial cells to form a barrier (an essential function of the intact endothelium).Objective 2:
To perform an analysis of protein and other molecules in archived, surplus tissue samples from lung biopsies of patients with PF to characterise the endothelium in the fibrotic lung.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1977
Date of REC Opinion
18 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion