# Immunobiology of the normal and injured lung

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2022 · $566,011

## Abstract

Project Summary
The adult lung continues to amaze in terms of its complexity and function from the discovery of new cell types to
the understanding of new functions of existing cells and molecular pathways operating during homeostasis and
injury. Never has lung biology received more attention as during the current COVID-19 pandemic where
fundamental studies in lung immunobiology are urgently needed to advance therapeutic development to address
unmet need in acute lung injury and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). For the past 15 years, we
have studied lung biology at the intersection of innate immunity and hematology, which are core components of
the NHLBI’s mission. Facilitated by technical development in the intravital imaging of the mouse lung and by
advanced transplantation techniques, we have made fundamental discoveries in this area in the normal and
injured lung that will serve as the basis of the proposed studies in this application. To advance our understanding
of lung injury mechanisms, we will use established models of sterile and pathogen-induced lung injury and extant
ARDS biorepositories developed under previous funding to continue our studies of the contribution of platelets,
neutrophils, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to disease pathogenesis. These studies will include
mechanisms by which antibodies trigger lung injury after blood transfusions or after solid organ transplantation
including the development of novel models of injury and therapeutic targeting. Within this theme, we will continue
studies on distinct populations of megakaryocytes in the adult lung and their roles in platelet biogenesis and lung
immunity. We will explore the hematopoietic potential of the lung by testing the hypothesis that the human lung
contains significant numbers of hematopoietic progenitors that may uniquely contribute to hematopoiesis in
homeostasis and injury and after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The environment at UCSF includes
established collaborations and accessibility to advanced Cores that will enable this program of lung biology to
accelerate discoveries under this funding mechanism and move the field forward.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10353875
- **Project number:** 1R35HL161241-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** MARK ROBERTS LOONEY
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $566,011
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-01-01 → 2028-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10353875

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10353875, Immunobiology of the normal and injured lung (1R35HL161241-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10353875. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*