The INSERM PEpithe Chair, “Plasticity of the Respiratory Epithelium in Normal and Pathological Conditions” is developed within Inserm Unit U1250: “Pulmonary Pathologies and Cellular Plasticity (P3Cell)”. Respiratory diseases are a major public health concern, particularly due to the lack of effective therapeutic strategies.

The identification of new molecular actors involved in pulmonary homeostasis and pathological alterations will allow the improvement of medical diagnosis as well as the exploration of new treatments.

The loss of lung functionality is explained in particular by a modification of mucociliary clearance made possible by the differentiation of a precursor into a ciliated or secretory cell. In this context, the research carried out by the chair aims to characterize the plasticity of the epithelium of the airways in relation to ciliogenesis. If this process is decisive in the establishment and repair of the respiratory epithelium, the signaling pathways associated with its control will constitute biological markers and pharmaceutical targets in diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Keywords : Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), respiratory epithelium, cell plasticity, ciliogenesis

Scientific collaborations: Institut Pasteur (Paris, France),

Center for Infection and Immunity (Lille, France), Institute of Biology Valrose (Nice, France).