Lung Function Screen

Coordinator:		Prof. Dr. Holger Schulz
Institution:		Institut für Inhaltionsbiolgie, Helmholtz Zentrum München
Homepage:		www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/en/ihb

According to the WHO morbidity and mortality of lung diseases are steadily on the rise and soon will be the leading cause of death worldwide. Major contributors are asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), both of which are known to be determined by a complex interplay of inherited predispositional and environmental factors. This interplay determines outbreak and progression of the disease but it is largely unexplored. Ambient particle exposure is a major factor contributing to the diseases but soon manufactured nanoparticles will add to this load. Thus, the lung function screen aims at the detection of new mouse mutants for lung disease patterns like COPD, asthma, or others. The screen emphasizes gene environment (particle) interactions to improve our pathophysiological understanding on health risks associated with airborne factors. Identification of functionally relevant gene-phenotype associations will substantially improve our understanding of genetically linked pathways for disorders of the lung and they will offer the opportunity for developing preventive and new therapeutic strategies in biomedical research.

                          
                          
Figure: Mice at lung function tests.



Additional relevant Internet links:
The German Mouse Clinic