Toyoshi Yanagihara

Based upon our current understanding, improving the identification and characterization of clinically relevant molecules or pathways responsible for progressive fibrotic diseases and use of the appropriate preclinical model system to test these will likely be required to improve the drug development pipeline for pulmonary fibrosis. Combination with appropriate preclinical models with <i>ex vivo</i> (precision-cut lung slices) or <i>in vitro</i> models would be beneficial for high-throughput drug

Amphiregulin signaling may be a therapeutic target for LPS-induced lung injury treatment through its prevention of epithelial cell apoptosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal age-related lung disease characterised by progressive and irreversible scarring of the lung. Although the details are not fully understood, there has been tremendous progress in understanding the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which has led to the identification of many new potential therapeutic targets. In this review we discuss several of these advances with a focus on genetic susceptibility and cellular senescence primarily affecting ep

<b>Rationale:</b> Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal lung disease characterized by progressive lung scarring. IPF-related pulmonary vascular remodeling and pulmonary hypertension (PH) result in a particularly poor prognosis. <b>Objectives:</b> To study the pathogenesis of vascular remodeling in fibrotic lungs and its contribution to progression of fibrosis. <b>Methods:</b> We used an experimental model of lung fibrosis associated with PH by transient overexpression of active TGF-β1 (

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have improved clinical outcomes and are becoming a standard treatment for many cancer types. However, these drugs also induce immune-related adverse events, among which interstitial lung disease (ILD) is potentially fatal. The underlying mechanism of ILD induction by ICIs is largely unknown. With the use of flow cytometry, we determined the expression levels of the immune-checkpoint proteins PD-1, TIM-3, TIGIT, LAG-3 and PD-L1 in T cells of bronchoalveolar lav

Immune cells have been implicated in interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), although their phenotypes and effector mechanisms remain poorly understood. To better understand these cells, we conducted an exploratory mass cytometry analysis of immune cell subsets in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), connective-tissue disease (CTD)-related ILD, and sarcoidosis, using two panels including 64 markers. Among myeloid cells, we observed the expansion

The thymus has spatially distinct microenvironments, the cortex and the medulla, where the developing T-cells are selected to mature or die through the interaction with thymic stromal cells. To establish the immunological self in the thymus, medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) express diverse sets of tissue-specific self-antigens (TSAs). This ectopic expression of TSAs largely depends on the transcriptional regulator Aire, yet the mechanism controlling Aire expression itself remains unknow

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), programmed cell death-1 (PD-1), and programmed cell death-1-ligand 1 (PD-L1) have become new treatment options for various malignancies. ICIs bind to immune-checkpoint inhibitory receptors or to the foregoing ligands and block inhibitory signals to release the brakes on the immune system, thereby enhancing immune anti-tumor responses. On the other hand, unlike conventional chemotherapies, ICIs can cause spec

The genetic differences in the myositis-susceptible loci may explain the heterogeneous phenotypes and treatment responses in myositis-associated ILD. The understanding of pathogenesis with the genetic background as well as autoantibodies will enable the practice of personalized treatment in the management of the disease.

Hyperoxic lung injury is pathologically characterized by alveolar edema, interlobular septal edema, hyaline membrane disease, lung inflammation, and alveolar hemorrhage. Although the precise mechanism by which hyperoxia causes lung injury is not well defined, oxidative stress, epithelial cell death, and proinflammatory cytokines are thought to be involved. Probucol-a commercially available drug for treating hypercholesterolemia-has been suggested to have antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects. Th

Gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), is an effective therapeutic agent for non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR mutations. It can cause severe acute pneumonitis in some patients. We previously demonstrated that mice with naphthalene-induced airway epithelial injury developed severe gefitinib-induced pneumonitis and that neutrophils played important roles in the development of the disease. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the neutrophi

We report a case of recurrent idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis after a long-term remission presented with Sjögren's syndrome. The patient was diagnosed with IPH due to repeated pneumonia and blood sputum in his childhood. He was admitted to our hospital due to exertional dyspnea and dry cough with bilateral ground-glass opacity in chest computed tomography at the age of 32. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery was performed and the specimens showed nonspecific interstitial pneumonia pattern wi

<b>Focusing on EndMT, Wu et al. discovered that EC-like myofibroblasts are able to differentiate into myofibroblasts, resulting in a significant contribution to the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis, and this process is redirected through induction of FoxA2</b> https://bit.ly/3YQvSIX