Arnaud Mailleux

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a rare and lethal chronic fibrotic pulmonary disease of unknown etiology. According to the current paradigm, IPF results from progressive alterations of alveolar epithelial cells leading to the recruitment of mesenchymal cells to the alveolar regions of the lung with secondary deposition of extracellular matrix, and destruction of the normal lung structure and physiology. The anarchic epithelial repair observed in IPF is accompanied by reactivation of signaling pathways involved in fetal lung development. Thus, our research is focused on elucidating the mechanisms and the consequences of the reactivation of developmental signaling pathways as well as their aberrant transcriptional integrations during lung fibrosis, and identifying new therapeutic