Despite major advances in medicine and healthcare, the underlying causes of many lung conditions, including asthma and pulmonary fibrosis, are still not well understood. Increasing our understanding of how and why lung conditions develop is vital to the successful prevention, treatment and cure of these diseases.
Many lung diseases are linked to our genetic make-up. Even before we’re born, our genes play a vital role in how our lungs develop and in keeping our lungs healthy. Problems with specific genes can cause problems with our lung development and this can lead to lung disease. In diseases like cystic fibrosis, the exact gene involved has been identified. However, for many other lung conditions the role of our genes is far more complex and the relevant genes are more difficult to identify.
Dr Charlotte Dean was awarded a BLF Research Fellowship to investigate which genes might be important in healthy lung development and whether problems with these genes might lead to disease. Following on from previous work, Dr Dean studied a specific group of genes that have a suggested role in healthy lung development to see whether they might be involved in disease.
During this study, Dr Dean identified a new group of genes that are critical for lung development in the womb. Preliminary experiments suggest that at least one of these genes, called ‘Vangl2’, has a role in pulmonary fibrosis. Further work is now needed to understand more about these genes and their role in lung disease in order to develop management strategies for this disease.
This fellowship enabled Dr Dean to establish her laboratory at MRC Harwell. She was awarded two more years funding from the MRC to continue her studies. This demonstrates the value of BLF Fellowships in helping junior scientists to establish themselves in lung research.
Dr Dean is Group Leader of the Lung Development and Disease section at the Medical Research Council’s facility in Harwell, Oxfordshire.
The section’s work focuses on how our genes control lung development and how lung diseases occur when these processes go wrong.
