# Alveolar Responses to Airway Injury

> **NIH NIH U01** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2024 · $11,300

## Abstract

Project Summary
Lung disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world today, with chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD) being the third leading cause of mortality worldwide. In such diseases, airway and alveolar
functions are compromised; injuries in one region of the lung may affect and/or cause ensuing damage to other
regions. We will use the naphthalene injury model in mice to study alveolar epithelial response to acute airway
injury. The Kim Lab recently found that alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells proliferate in response to naphthalene injury.
The immune system contributes to tissue regeneration post-injury and may facilitate local cell-cell interactions
and tissue-wide responses. This project will determine if alveolar macrophages are responsible for the
proliferative AT2 response after club cell injury. First, the extent of airway cell injury after macrophage depletion
followed by naphthalene treatment will be examined by immunostaining analysis. Second, the proliferation and
differentiation response of AT2 cells after macrophage depletion and naphthalene will be determined. This
Diversity Supplement will support the scientific and career development of a research assistant. Importantly,
prior research conducted in our group has shown that alveolar cell proliferation in response to airway injury
does not occur in the aged mouse lung. Thus, the proposed studies can provide insight on how changes in the
aged lung impact lung progenitor cell function. This is directly relevant to the parent grant, particularly for Aim
1, which involves characterizing the cellular states of alveolar progenitor cells. We expect her proposed studies
will have important implications for chronic lung diseases like COPD as well as lung cancer, for which aging is a
major risk factor. The results of this work will also help us continue to better models of lung cancer in the aged
lung and to learn ways to intervene in lung cancer and lung diseases associated with age.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10993763
- **Project number:** 3U01CA267827-03S2
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** MARCIA HAIGIS
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $11,300
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10993763

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10993763, Alveolar Responses to Airway Injury (3U01CA267827-03S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10993763. Licensed CC0.

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