Comparative analysis of endothelial and epithelial signalling pathways for the mesenchymal transition in the human lung
The scarring remodelling of lung tissue in several pulmonary diseases is driven by a number of signalling pathways in which multiple genes interact. Among, there are two pathways that drive the transition of internal covering cells of blood vessels (endothelial cells, endo MT pathway) and alveolar covering cells (epithelial cells, EMT pathway) into connective tissue cells. These two pathways overlap in multiple molecules and are therefore hard to distinguish complicating the interpretation of gene activity patterns and, in some circumstances, leading to misinterpretations with regard to the molecular signalling regulation. Hence, the aim of this project is to identify specific markers for the accurate discrimination of the endo-MT and EMT signalling pathways.