Virtual 2020

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(Re-)discovering the small airway epithelium in COVID-19, fibrosing lung diseases and pulmonary regeneration

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Chairs: A. Dinh-Xuan (Paris, France), N. Ubags (Epalinges, Switzerland)
Aims: To summarize the clinical evidence for a pathogenic role of small airway cells in COVID-19 and fibrosing lung diseases; to explore the novel concept that small airways are central to the processes involved in regenerating and repairing a fibrosing lung. New developments regarding innovative in vitro models will allow us to exploit the regenerative and therapeutic potential of modulating small airway cells in lung fibrosis. AIMS: To highlight the contribution of small airway cells in COVID-19 and lung fibrosis from a clinical perspective; to understand the key role of small airway cells in lung regeneration and fibrosis; to demonstrate the regenerative potential of small airway cells and their likelihood as new therapeutic targets for pulmonary fibrosis; to explore novel models to study small airway cells and their regenerative capacities in pulmonary fibrosing diseases.

The role of bronchial epithelial cells in COVID-19 infection and pathogenesis S. Trump (Berlin, Germany)
Airway basal cell involvement in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis A. Prasse (Hannover, Germany)
Uncovering the plasticity of lung epithelial cells by scRNA sequencing H. Schiller (Munich, Germany)
Modeling the regenerative potential of airway epithelial cells P. Hiemstra (Leiden, Netherlands)