Understanding corticosteroid-sensitive and -insensitive pathways in airway remodelling

哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺病（COPD）是影响全世界数百万人的慢性气道疾病。气道重塑或增厚，导致气道阻塞和肺功能下降。澳大利亚每年约有400名哮喘患者和6000名COPD患者死亡。令人担忧的是，COPD目前是澳大利亚第四大死亡原因，预计这一数字在未来还会增加。不幸的是，目前可用于防治这些疾病的药物成效有限。我们需要了解如何控制气道重塑，以便能够改善哮喘和COPD的治疗。但首先我们需要更深入地了解气道重塑发展的分子机制。有了这个建议，我们将增加我们的知识，哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺病的机制基础，并可能阐明新的治疗目标，为未来的药物干预。

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are chronic disorders of the airways affecting millions of people worldwide. Airways become remodelled, or thickened, resulting in airway obstruction and decline in lung function. Approximately 400 asthmatics and 6000 COPD sufferers die in Australia each year. Worryingly, COPD is currently the fourth highest cause of death in Australia and this number is predicted to increase in the future. Unfortunately, the drugs currently available for combating these diseases have limited success. We need to understand how to control airway remodelling to be able to improve treatments for asthma and COPD. But first we require a greater understanding of the molecular mechanism-s underlying the development of airway remodelling. With this proposal we will increase our knowledge of the mechanistic basis of asthma and COPD and may elucidate novel therapeutic targets for future pharmacological intervention.