Profile

The pulmonary epithelium with a surface area of approximately 120 m² in humans is an important first line defense barrier against gaseous noxes and airborne particles as well as allergens and pathogens.

The pulmonary epithelium has been demonstrated to be not only a passive target of such agents but to act as an important effector in the regulation of the lungs’ inflammatory and repair/regenerative responses. Both the effects of and the epithelial responses against inhaled agents may differ along the tracheo-bronchial airway tract as well as between airway and alveolar epithelium.

Therefore, the focus of our scientific interest is on the role of airway (generation-specific) as well as alveolar epithelium in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory lung diseases such as COPD/emphysema, allergic bronchial asthma, and inflammatory processes related to occupational or environmental exposures.

In the attempt to bridge the gap between cellular mechanisms and physiological functions of the whole organ, we use methods and techniques from cell and molecular biology, in vitro culture of cells and explanted airways, (immuno-) histochemistry in conjunction with quantitative histology (design-based stereology) and non-invasive as well as invasive lung function analysis in mice.