Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine are leading research to find a cure for fibrosis, building off a recent Nobel Prize-winning discovery that has revealed a gateway into the scarring diseases.

Found in the lungs, heart, liver and other organs, fibrosis is marked by overgrowth, hardening and scarring of tissue -- a result of inflammatory reactions that can be spurred by infections, allergic responses, tissue injury, radiation and other factors. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of the lung, is a well-known form of the condition, often the result of inhaling dust or fibers.

In IPF, fibrotic tissue disrupts and replaces normal alveoli, where gas exchange occurs, and increasingly makes it difficult to breathe. The disease can impact patients’ quality of life, with respiratory failure and even death, in severe cases, among the risks.

At VCU, Patricia Sime, M.D., chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, has formed a multidisciplinary team studying the unusual presence of a protein they have found in fibrotic lung tissue. The protein, Piezo2, is a “force-sensitive ion channel” – it acts as tiny gates on the outer walls of cells, helping them respond to stimuli such as pressure, stretch and touch.

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