Schnapp, Lynn

Our lab is focused on the processes that govern acute lung injury and its resolution. In particular, we are interested in matrix remodeling and why lung injury resolves under certain circumstances (i.e. Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and progresses to end-stage fibrosis in other circumstances (i.e. Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis). To examine these questions, we use different mouse models of lung injury to examine the regulation of matrix remodeling and the role of the alveolar myofibroblasts in the resolution of fibrosis. To complement these studies, we are analyzing bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with acute lung injury and other lung diseases using cutting-edge methodologies in proteomics to identify new pathways in lung injury. We also are studying pathways that regulate lymphocyte trafficking to the lung during inflammation and injury.

Another focus in the laboratory is to characterize the interactions of the extracellular environment with HIV in the lung. The lung is an important reservoir of HIV and site of HIV replication, which results in virus-induced lung injury. How HIV leads to direct lung injury, and how virus replication is sustained within the lung, are not known. We hypothesize that extracellular matrix (ECM) enhance and sustain IV infection within the lung and, conversely, that HIV within the lung alters ECM and contributes to inflammation and fibrosis.