Solving the Mysterious Case of an Inflammatory Molecule's Role in Lung Fibrosis (3 of 4) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Solving the Mysterious Case of an Inflammatory Molecule's Role in Lung Fibrosis (3 of 4)

Caption

Schematic describing the pro-fibrotic role of lnterleukin-11 (IL-11) in lung fibrosis. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a fibrotic lung disease characterized by lung epithelial injury and chronic activation of invasive myofibroblasts. IL-11 is robustly upregulated by multiple pro-fibrotic stimuli. IL-11 stimulates lung fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation and triggers cell invasion. These effects can be reduced by neutralizing antibodies against IL-11. We propose that therapeutic inhibition of IL-11 might be effective in reducing lung fibrosis in IPF. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the Sept. 25, 2019, issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by B. Ng at National Heart Centre Singapore in Singapore, Singapore; and colleagues was titled, "Interleukin-11 is a therapeutic target in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis."

Credit

Credit: Dr. Giuseppe D' Agostino (Stuart Cook's lab)

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