PI: Grazyna Kwapiszewska
Focus: Pulmonary vascular remodelling has a multifactorial pathobiology characterized by changes in the endothelium, smooth muscle cells, and adventitia. These pathological changes lead to a remodeling of the pulmonary circulation and a massive alteration of the lumen in small- and medium-sized pulmonary arteries. Involvement of vascular component is present not only in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) but also in chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung fibrosis (PF), and when present deteriorates patients´ outcome, underscoring the importance of the vascular bed in these diseases. To date, the causes and consequences of endothelial and vascular involvement in specifically in different forms of lung fibrosis are poorly understood. The goal of this research group is to decipher the role pulmonary vasculature/endothelial cells in lung diseases, in terms of abnormal cellular interactions, hyperinflammation, vascular barrier disorders, and an altered basement membrane composition.
Networking: Grazyna Kwapiszewska is also Professor at the Institute for Lung Health, Giessen, Germany. The group works very closely with preclinical (Akos Heinemann – Division of Pharmacology, Dagmar Kolb – Core Facility Ultrastructure Analysis) and clinical departments (Gabor Kovacs, Nikolaus Kneidinger – Division of Respiratory Medicine, Jörg Lindenmann - Division of Thoracic and Hyperbaric Surgery). The international cooperations are marked by outstanding publications with the Universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Denver Colorado, Charite Berlin and Lund University.
