A major emphasis of the Vermont Pulmonary SCOR research has centered on cellular pathogenic mechanisms in lung injury and fibrosis. This has required the establishment and/or maintenance of a variety of in vitro cell cultures of human and animal lung origin. Most SCOR projects will continue to be involved with studies of normal lung cell biology as well as their response to etiologic agents of pulmonary pathology. Included are studies of mesenchymal cell proliferation, collagen metabolism, differentiated function, and cellular interactions. The goal of this Core is to establish a Cell Culture Facility which will provide cultured lung cells for SCOR research. Established cell lines such as embryonic human diploid lung fibroblasts, IMR- 90, mouse 3T3 cells will be maintained for use. Additionally, several lines of human lung fibroblasts from biopsy specimens derived from lung tissue of fibrosis patients, normal human lung tissue and lung tissue of rats have been isolated and maintained by Vermont SCOR investigators and are cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen. Several of these will continue to be studied. New cell cultures will be isolated for individual research projects, such as Type II epithelial cells for studies of cytoskeletal proteins as well as other fibroblast lines as required for appropriate studies. The establishment of a Core Cell Culture Facility will enable us to meet the increasing needs of SCOR investigators for critical supplies of cell cultures established and maintained under standardized conditions that are essential for the types of multisdisciplinary studies outlined in this proposal.
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