Pulmonary fibrosis — including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and scleroderma-associated pulmonary fibrosis — is a fatal disease marked by scarring and hardening of lung tissue. The cause is often unknown, and there is currently no effective treatment.
In research published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Northwestern Medicine scientists have demonstrated that a unique population of immune cells plays a key role in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. They also showed that targeting such cells could lead to new treatments for the disease.