A New Model System for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

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Aging (Aging-US)

This week's cover paper of Aging (Volume 13, Issue 13) is entitled, "A model of the aged lung epithelium in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis," by researchers from The Jane and Leonard Korman Respiratory Institute, Philadelphia, PA; Rutgers – New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. Abstract: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an age-related disorder that carries a universally poor prognosis and is thought to arise from repetitive micro injuries to the alveolar epithelium. To date, a major factor limiting our understanding of IPF is a deficiency of disease models, particularly in vitro models that can recapitulate the full complement of molecular attributes in the human condition. In this study, we aimed to develop a model that more closely resembles the aberrant IPF lung epithelium. By exposing mouse alveolar epithelial cells to repeated, low doses of bleomycin, instead of usual one-time exposures, we uncovered changes strikingly similar to those in the IPF lung epithelium. This included the acquisition of multiple phenotypic and functional characteristics of senescent cells and the adoption of previously described changes in mitochondrial homeostasis, including alterations in redox balance, energy production and activity of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response. We also uncovered dramatic changes in cellular metabolism and detected a profound loss of proteostasis, as characterized by the accumulation of cytoplasmic protein aggregates, dysregulated expression of chaperone proteins and decreased activity of the ubiquitin proteasome system. In summary, we describe an in vitro model that closely resembles the aberrant lung epithelium in IPF. We propose that this simple yet powerful tool could help uncover new biological mechanisms and assist in developing new pharmacological tools to treat the disease. Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.203291 DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203291 Full text - https://www.aging-us.com/article/203291/text Correspondence to: Ross Summer email: Ross.Summer@Jefferson.edu and Freddy Romero email: Freddy.RomeroVasquez@bcm.edu Keywords: aging, IPF, mitochondria, proteostasis, epithelial cells About Aging Launched in 2009, Aging publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways. Please visit our website at http://www.Aging-US.com​​ or connect with us on: Twitter - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl​ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/​ SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/aging-us​ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/agingus​ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging​ Aging is published by Impact Journals, LLC please visit http://www.ImpactJournals.com​​ or connect with @ImpactJrnls Media Contact 18009220957 MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM