Lung Development and Repair (B5) 2011

The lung is a complex three-dimensional organ. Its vital functions depend upon the initial establishment and maintenance of dynamic interactions between multiple tissue types. These include the highly branched system of airway tubes and terminal alveolar sacs, blood and lymphatic vessels, nerves, smooth muscle and fibroblasts, and cells of the immune system. Defects in these interactions underlie many serious respiratory disorders, both in the neonate and adult. This meeting will highlight recent advances in our understanding of the molecular and cellular processes driving the development of the lung and how its organization is maintained over the long term in the adult, as well as how these mechanisms are perturbed in disease. New ideas and approaches will be catalyzed by examples from other organ systems. The meeting will also address a major goal in lung biology - to identify the progenitor cells that mediate tissue regeneration and repair after damage by environmental factors or disease.