Pulmonary Fibrosis: New Approach for Early Detection and Treatment
Chronic lung diseases rank as the third leading cause of death worldwide according to the World Health Organization, with incurable conditions such as pulmonary fibrosis among the most severe. While healthy lungs have the capacity to regenerate, this ability is impaired in patients with pulmonary fibrosis (PF), leading to irreversible scarring and a loss of lung function. Now, researchers at Helmholtz Munich, including Prof. Mareike Lehmann and Dr. Gerald Burgstaller, in collaboration with colleagues from the United States, have uncovered a key mechanism behind this impairment. The results were published in JCI Insights.
In their latest study, the team around Mareike Lehmann and Gerald Burgstaller from the Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI) at Helmholtz Munich identified a process by which the regenerative capacity of lung stem cells is reduced during PF. The focus was on extracellular vesicles (EVs) – small, cell-derived particles that facilitate communication between cells. Previous work by the same group had shown that an increase in the release of EVs contributes to the progression of pulmonary fibrosis.
How Tiny Particles in the Lungs Signal Early Fibrosis
In their current study, the scientists identified the specific protein cargo within EVs released by lung fibroblasts, which are specialized cells that drive the scarring process in pulmonary fibrosis. The researchers discovered that EVs containing the protein Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 1 (SFRP1) accumulate during active fibrosis, which diminished the ability of lung stem cells to regenerate. Notably, the SFRP1-containing EVs were found in elevated amounts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, a clinically relevant body fluid, suggesting that these EVs could serve as early biomarkers for the detection of pulmonary fibrosis.
“With this study, we decode the cargo of fibrotic extracellular vesicles for the first time and demonstrate the potential to use these vesicles as biomarkers”, so the team. The findings provide a foundation for further research and offer hope for earlier detection and new therapeutic strategies for pulmonary fibrosis, where there is currently no cure. Targeting these fibrotic EVs could represent a novel approach to restoring lung function and improving patient outcomes.
Original publication
Burgy et al. (2024): Fibroblasts-derived extracellular vesicles contain SFRP1 and mediate pulmonary fibrosis. JCI Insight. DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.168889
Contact
Prof. Mareike Lehmann, Group Leader “Inflammaging” at the Helmholtz Munich Environmental Health Center, Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI).
Dr. Gerald Burgstaller, Group Leader “Immunotherapeutic Technologies” at the Helmholtz Munich Environmental Health Center, Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI).
Funding information
This study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Emmy Noether and the German Center for Lung Research (Deutsches Zentrum für Lungenforschung, DZL).
