INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY IN LUNG HOST DEFENSE: SURFACTANT PROTEIN-A GENETIC VARIAN

该子项目是利用NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为中心，不一定是研究者所在机构。人类的肺部疾病可能由于各种原因而发展。环境暴露于危险因素，如臭氧，吸烟，肺部感染和早产，都使人类处于发展严重和危及生命的肺部疾病的风险之中。两个个体可以暴露于相同的环境刺激以发展肺病，并且一个个体发展肺病而另一个保持健康，这是非常有趣的。是否有“风险”因素发挥作用，或者“保护”因素，保护个人免受肺部疾病的发展，尽管暴露于刺激？我们已经集中在遗传和功能的变异性有关的蛋白质存在于肺。这些蛋白质称为表面活性蛋白，在个体的防御反应中至关重要。一种特异性蛋白质是表面活性蛋白A（SP-A）。该提案旨在研究SP-A及其影响的防御细胞在炎症产生量方面的差异。这将通过从健康志愿者的肺和血液中获得防御细胞以及确定这些个体的SP-A基因组成来完成。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Lung disease in humans can develop due to a variety of reasons. Environmental exposure to risk factors such as ozone, smoking, lung infections, and premature birth all put humans at risk for developing severe and life-threatening lung diseases. It is of great interest that two individuals can be exposed to the same environmental stimulus for the development of lung disease, and one individual develops the lung disease while the other remains healthy. Are there 'at risk' factors that come into play, or alternatively 'protective' factors that safeguard individuals from developing lung disease despite being exposed to the stimulus.? We have focused on the genetic and functional variability in relation to the proteins that exist in the lung. These proteins, called surfactant proteins, are of prime importance in the defense response of individuals. One specific protein is surfactant protein A (SP-A). This proposal aims to look at how SP-A and the defense cells it influences differ in terms of the amount of inflammation produced. This will be done by obtaining the defense cells from the lungs and blood of healthy volunteers and also by determining the genetic make-up of these individuals in terms of SP-A.