Hung Nguyen, PhD

Research Project:
How T Lymphocyte Promotes Fibrosis in Fibrotic Interstitial Lung Disease

Grant Awarded:

Catalyst Award

Research Topics:

basic biologic mechanisms
immunology immunotherapy

Research Diseases:

interstitial lung disease
pulmonary fibrosis

Fibrosis, or scarring, affects many different diseases and is a major health problem. Fibroblasts are a main type of cell that causes fibrosis. Besides fibroblasts, immune cells also play an important part in fibrosis. We are studying how a specific immune cell called T lymphocyte promotes fibrosis in a lung disease called fibrotic interstitial lung disease, or fILD. We have found that patients with certain kinds of fILD have increased numbers of T cells and that these T cells are recruited to the lung by chemical signals called chemokines produced by fibroblasts. We found that a particular chemokine called CXCL12 is increased in fibroblasts from fILD patients and that it helps in attracting T cells to diseased lungs. We also found another protein called TWEAK that regulates the production of CXCL12. Our objective is to find out how TWEAK increases CXCL12 production so we can develop new treatments that decrease the number of T cells in fILD.

Catalyst Award, applied under the Dalsemer Award

Page last updated: October 29, 2025

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