Boston and GSK researchers team up to develop stem cell models of pulmonary fibrosis

Boston University Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) and Boston Medical Center to Collaborate GSK develop stem cell-based models to better understand pulmonary fibrosis and identify new targets for treatments that can stop or slow its progression.

“This exciting collaboration with GSK will help… make significant advances in the treatment of chronic lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis,” Darrell Kotton, MD, founding director of CReM and professor of medicine at Boston University, said in a statement. university news.

With funding from GSK, the collaboration is planned for three years, but the researchers say they would like it to last longer.

“Together with GSK, we are poised to advance emerging research discoveries toward real-world therapies for patients,” Kotton said.

Pulmonary fibrosis causes scarring and hardening of the small air sacs in the lungs, known as alveoli, making it difficult for patients to breathe. Over time, the scars worsen and the disease becomes more difficult to treat.

Kotton’s research team has been working with induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, derived from adult blood cells. By activating specific genes, these blood cells return to an embryonic stem cell-like state that can develop into any type of cell.

Investigating stem cells in FP

Guiding stem cells to become lung cells allows researchers to watch how lung fibrosis develops and discover where they can intervene to prevent it from getting worse or slow its progression. Working with GSK, researchers will expand their bank of patient stem cells and use them to model the disease in the laboratory.

“I make the analogy of a black box flight recorder, because you can replay all the events that led to the malfunction over and over again,” Kotton said. “You can understand the disease and then intervene at set points where you want to stop the progression, and that’s where the drug development action is.”

Stem cells can also be used to repopulate patients’ airways with healthy lung cells through a transplant.

“We’re very excited and we’re making rapid progress on that, but there’s still a long way to go,” Kotton said, adding that new treatments may move toward clinical testing “sooner than we think.”

For Kaivan Khavandi, MD, PhD, senior vice president and global head of respiratory/immunology research and development at GSK, advancing new treatments requires “a deep understanding of the genetic and cellular basis of diseases.”

In pulmonary fibrosis, the epithelial cells that line the airways fail and cause scarring by sending signals to cells of the mesenchymal lineage, such as fibroblasts, the cells that deposit the components of the matrix that supports the body’s tissues.

Together with GSK, the Boston-based research team will explore the genetic and environmental factors that stress alveolar type 2 cells (a type of cell that repopulates the epithelial lining of the lung after it has been damaged) and combine them with mesenchymal cells. derived from stem cells. to better mimic the disease.

“Studying the crosstalk of lung epithelial and mesenchymal lineages using patient-derived stem cells and organoid-based model systems (miniaturized organs) represents an exciting new direction for the field,” Kotton said in a statement. Press release from Boston Medical Center.

CReM’s work also seeks to address health disparities, particularly among Black patients, who tend to have worse outcomes in pulmonary fibrosis. By focusing on equitable research, the collaboration hopes to develop treatments that benefit all patients.

“Black patients with pulmonary fibrosis have worse health outcomes at younger ages compared to Hispanic or white patients,” said Megan Bair-Merritt, MD, chief scientific officer at Boston Medical Center. “The collaboration with GSK will contribute to the development of new treatments for lung diseases that help address these disparities and pave the way to a healthier future for all.”