Pause for Breath

When treating diseases with irreversible symptoms, early diagnosis is crucial, so that progress can be slowed before too much damage is done. One such condition is idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), in which hard connective tissue accumulates in the lungs, progressively degrading their function and making breathing increasingly difficult. A team of researchers has identified a particular type of cells, known as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), shown here in orange in lung tissue, which could act as indicators of this disease, facilitating diagnosis. IPF patients were found to possess more MDSCs in their lungs than healthy individuals, and those with more advanced symptoms had even greater numbers of these cells than other patients. What’s more, MDSCs are already linked to reduced immune defences in cancerous tissues and are suggested to play a similar role in IPF, so studying them could lead to better treatments as well as earlier diagnosis.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Emmanuelle Briolat

Writer

A researcher specialising in visual signals in Lepidoptera, camouflage and the effects of light pollution, Emmanuelle’s writing covers a range of topics, from biomedical research to children’s books about moth defences.

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• Image courtesy of Helmholtz Zentrum München
• Helmholtz Zentrum München, Member of the German Center for Lung Research, Munich, Germany
• Image copyright held by original authors
• Research published in the European Respiratory Journal, September 2016