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Research
Research
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Summer Research

Contact

Ross Summer, MD
Professor

1020 Locust Street
Room 368
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Highlighted Publications

Steplewski, A., Fertala, J., Arita, M., Romero, F., Summer, R., Fertala, R. Target-Specific Delivery of an Antibody That Blocks the Formation of Fibrotic Deposits in Keloid and Lung Fibrosis Models, Monoclon Antib Immunodiagn Immunother. [201728972447]

This study demonstrates our ability to deliver a novel antifibrotic antibody to the lung and provides preliminary evidence that this biologic may be effective in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

Freddy Romero, Xu Hong, Dilip Shah, Caleb B. Kallen, Ivan Rosas, Zhi Guo, DeLeila Schriner, Julie Barta, Hoora Shaghaghi, Jan B. Hoek, Clementina Mesaros, Augustine M. Choi, Nathaniel W. Snyder, and Ross Summer, Lipid synthesis is required to resolve ER stress and limit fibrotic responses in the lung Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2018.

This study provides a unifying mechanism linking ER stress to the development of pulmonary fibrosis. We show that metabolic dysfunction, namely the impairment of lipid synthesis, reduces the capacity of alveolar epithelial cells to resolve ER stress, leading to sustained cellular dysfunction and induction of fibrotic responses. We also provide evidence that pharmacological or dietary approaches to increasing lung lipids could be effective in treating pulmonary fibrosis.

Romero F, Shah D, Duong M, Penn RB, Fessler MB, Madenspacher J, Stafstrom W, Kavuru M, Lu B, Kallen CB, Walsh K, Summer R. A Pneumocyte-macrophage Paracrine Lipid Axis Drives the Lung Toward Fibrosis. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2014 Nov 19. E-pub ahead of print [PMID:25409201].

This study is the first to suggest that macrophage foam cells play a causal role in the development of pulmonary fibrosis and that strategies aimed at blocking their formation might be effective in limiting the onset and progression of disease.

Publications

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