CVRI Scientists

Harold A. Chapman, M.D.
Professor of Medicine; Chief, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

Research Interests:
Antigen presentation by MHC class II molecules important to immunity and autoimmunity and extracellular matrix remodeling important to cell migration and tissue repair

Summary:
Integrins are a well known family of cell surface adhesion protein receptors. Integrins attach to the matrix surrounding cells, and neighboring cells and convey information to the cell allowing it to respond. For example, cells suddenly devoid of their integrin attachments to their surrounding matrix frequently undergo a cell death program. Integrin function therefore affects cellular differentiation state, survival, growth, and movement. My lab has been studying a set of integrins widely expressed on epithelial cells and attempting to understand how the information conveyed by these integrins is regulated and whether there are critical pathways of signaling initiated through integrins that are needed for tumor progression and wound healing. The lab is primarily focused on the lung and hence our experimental models are mainly intended to model pulmonary fibrosis (scarring) and lung cancer.