Pulmonary Fibrosis, Immune Responses & Guidance Proteins - The Herzog Lab at Yale School of Medicine

Why It Matters

Understanding immune and guidance‑protein pathways opens avenues for therapies that could stop or reverse pulmonary fibrosis, addressing a disease with limited treatment options and high mortality.

Key Takeaways

• Pulmonary fibrosis stems from chronic injury and failed tissue repair.
• Immune system influences fibrosis beyond infection control, modulating healing.
• Netrin‑1 links neuronal guidance to immune response and scar formation.
• Human‑relevant models, including mini‑lung organoids, enable precise study.
• Goal: develop preventive or therapeutic strategies to reverse lung scarring.

Summary

The Herzog Lab at Yale School of Medicine is investigating pulmonary fibrosis, a lethal lung disease characterized by progressive scarring that stiffens the organ and shortens life expectancy.

Researchers argue that fibrosis results from an ongoing, maladaptive healing response after an initial injury, and that the immune system—traditionally viewed as irrelevant—actually regulates tissue repair. Their work highlights the dual role of the neuronal guidance protein Netrin‑1, which not only directs nerve growth but also modulates immune activity and drives fibrotic remodeling.

To translate these findings, the lab builds human‑relevant models, including engineered cell lines expressing human genes, patient‑derived blood and tissue samples, and ‘mimedix’ mini‑lung organoids created from pathology specimens. These platforms allow direct observation of Netrin‑1’s effects and screening of potential therapeutics.

If successful, the approach could yield preventive strategies or drugs that halt or even reverse scarring, offering a path to restore normal lung function for patients who currently face inevitable decline.

Original Description

For more information on Erica Herzog or #YaleSchoolOfMedicine, visit: https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/erica-herzog and https://medicine.yale.edu/lab/herzog.

The Herzog lab’s mission is to perform high quality translational studies aimed at elucidating common mechanism(s) of multiple forms of pulmonary fibrosis. These studies employ a unique combination of murine modeling and novel bioengineering-based approaches, as well as studies in primary human cells, that are aimed at unveiling the immunopathogenesis of human lung fibrosis.

0:00 The Herzog Lab

0:47 What are they studying?

2:04 How are they studying it?

2:52 Where might this research lead?