Perinatal nicotine exposure and asthma risk: how lung immune cells react

Who could benefit from this research

What this research studies

Researchers will study how exposure to nicotine during the perinatal period affects lung immune cells called ILC2s and their role in allergic airway inflammation. They will use mouse models and advanced techniques like single-cell RNA sequencing and ATAC sequencing to uncover molecular changes and interactions with the maternal and offspring environments. The goal is to understand why perinatal nicotine exposure might lead to asthma and allergic diseases later in life, with a focus on Th2-type immune responses and airway hyper-responsiveness. The study will use established nicotine exposure methods and genetically modified mice to map how ILC2s react at the gene and epigenetic levels.

Why it matters

Where this research is happening

• Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
  Torrance, United States Active

Researchers

• Principal investigator: Rehan, Virender K — Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
• Study coordinator: Rehan, Virender K

Related research

Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.

• GLP-1 receptor agonists as immune targets to treat asthma in lean and obese adults

  Aims to understand how GLP-1R‑agonist diabetes medicines may directly calm immune cells to reduce asthma in adults who are lean or obese.

  NIH research Vanderbilt University Medical Center · Nashville, United States · NIH-11616517

• Understanding how a type of immune cell called ILC2s affect asthma in adults

  This grant studies how group 2 innate lymphoid cells influence asthma in adults to help identify new ways to manage airway inflammation.

  NIH research Mayo Clinic Arizona · Scottsdale, United States · NIH-11552879

• Expanding understanding of asthma in kids through airways and blood profiling

  A study at UC San Francisco will profile blood and nasal/sputum samples from 300 youth (including 200 with asthma) over a year to understand how environmental and social factors influence asthma in marginalized communities.

  NIH research University of California, San Francisco · San Francisco, United States · NIH-11551266

• Preventing and improving asthma care for children in urban communities

  This program will try several approaches — from giving helpful bacteria to babies to allergy immunotherapy and advanced airway testing — to prevent and better treat asthma in children who live in cities.

  NIH research University of Wisconsin-Madison · Madison, United States · NIH-11521837

• IDEAL project helps predict vaccine response, infections, and asthma in early childhood

  A Child-focused program will collect and share saliva, blood, and tissue samples from diverse infants to find biological patterns that predict how vaccines work, how respiratory infections occur, and who develops asthma.

  NIH research Boston Children's Hospital · Boston, United States · NIH-11497516

• Understanding how early-life immune development affects vaccine responses and asthma risk in children

  This project uses lab-grown human immune cells from infants and young children to explore why some kids respond poorly to vaccines and are more prone to respiratory infections and asthma.

  NIH research Boston Children's Hospital · Boston, United States · NIH-11496694

About this research

1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.