Scientists track down a protein that may add to lung damage in asthma and related diseases.

[2greys]

Your lungs and airways need to be stretchy, sort of like balloons. Take a big breath, and they’ll open right up.

Damaged lungs can’t open properly. Patients with asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and systemic sclerosis suffer from fibrosis and tissue remodeling, where a build-up of tissue and immune cells, and proteins that form a glue-like substance, keep the airways from expanding. As fibrosis gets worse, taking a breath feels like blowing up a balloon filled with concrete.

In a new study, researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) report that a protein called TL1A drives fibrosis in several mouse models, triggering tissue remodeling, and making it harder for lungs and airways to function normally.

bioengineer.org/a-step-towa...

[Cade1]

I found this especially interesting as I am a retired tissue viability (wound healing) nurse & lecturer. Thanks x