A research team from Yale and Baylor College of Medicine completed a single-cell analysis of lungs affected by idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), revealing how cells change in response to the disease.

The findings, published in the July 8 issue of Science Advances, deepen understanding of IPF and could improve treatment of it and other fibrotic lung diseases.

Using a technique called single-cell RNA sequencing, which allows scientists to profile in detail thousands of individual cells, the research team created a high-resolution atlas of all the cells in lungs with IPF. It is available online the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Cell Atlas.

The new research provides insight into the lungs’ cellular landscape, shows how IPF affects lung cells, and suggests both a possible explanation for patients’ breathing difficulties and potential new avenues for treatment.

The Yale team was led by Dr. Naftali Kaminski, the Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. Professor of Medicine (pulmonary) and section chief of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine; Dr. Ivan O. Rosas led the Baylor team.

Get the full story at news.yale.edu.