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

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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.