Understanding how a special airway cell helps protect and repair breathing passages
Official title: Defining the mechanisms of injury resistance and role in restoring mucociliary transport of the airway hillock
Funded at University of Pennsylvania · NIH-11619701 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A researcher is studying a newly found airway cell called the hillock to see how it protects the airways and helps repair them after injury, with the aim of helping people with asthma, COPD, or bronchiectasis.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Career grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pennsylvania NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2026 |
| Project end | August 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $170,640 |
| NIH project number | 7K08HL177154-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11619701 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients with asthma, COPD, or bronchiectasis who have damaged or inflamed airways could ultimately benefit from this line of research.
✕Less likely to help
Healthy individuals without airway disease may not directly benefit from this specific mechanistic study.
What this research studies
This project looks at a unique airway cell type that may keep the airways intact after damage and help restore normal mucociliary transport. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and tissue studies, the team will characterize hillock cells and the proteins keratin 13 and desmoglein 3 that may support barrier function. In mice, they will selectively disrupt these components to see how injury resistance and regeneration are affected, and they will examine how retinoic acid signaling influences hillock behavior. The work aims to clarify whether hillock dysfunction contributes to airway diseases and how restoring its function could improve airway health in patients.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could reveal new targets to strengthen airway barriers and speed repair after injury, potentially improving symptoms for people with airway diseases.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work has linked epithelial barrier function to airway disease, and this project builds on established knowledge about hillock cells and keratin/desmosome roles in other tissues.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Shah, Viral Shailesh — University of Pennsylvania
- Study coordinator: Shah, Viral Shailesh
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.