Susan D. Reynolds, PhD

Special Interests

Research Interests

Our group has focused on delineation of mechanisms that regulate repair of the conducting airway epithelium. We have used lung injury models to identify two distinct tissue specific stem cell populations that maintain the proximal and distal compartments. Current research investigates divergent roles for the wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway in regulation of cell fate determination in the tracheobronchial and bronchiolar stem cell hierarchies. These studies concentrate on analysis of epithelial proliferation, differentiation, and migration. We make extensive use of genetically modified animal models and in vitro cell culture systems to investigate normal reparative processes and to identify processes that cause deviation from the norm. Our work and that of others indicates that the conducting airway epithelium serves as the first line of defense against environmental agents including pathogens, oxidant gases, particles, and pollutants. The normal epithelium detects, detoxifies, and eliminates such agents resulting in maintenance of an protective barrier. An attenuated or inappropriate response of the airway to such agents is associated with establishment and progression of chronic lung disease. Our analysis of epithelial protective and repair mechanisms indicates that such processes mature during the postnatal period and have led to the concept that gene-environment interactions that compromise epithelial reparative capacity are a common feature of lung diseases including bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).