Bridges Laboratory

Research efforts in the Bridges laboratory are focused toward: 1) understanding the molecular regulation of epithelial cell specification and maturation during lung development; and 2) determining the molecular mechanisms that control pulmonary surfactant pool sizes in the postnatal and adult lung, with particular interest in rare pediatric and adult lung diseases associated with surfactant dysfunction. Our lab utilizes state-of-the-art methodologies including CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in mice, AAV-mediated gene delivery, RNAseq, ATACseq and high content confocal microscopy coupled with physiological and biochemical analyses to address questions of direct clinical relevance.

Lab Resources and Services

Lab location K1004

Current Projects

• Role of GPR116 in Alveolar Homeostasis
• Editing Alveolar Progenitor Cells for Correction of Monogenic Disease
• Mechanisms of vGPCR mediated Cytomegalovius growth in the salivary gland

Personnel

Principal Investigator
James P. Bridges, PhD

Collaborators

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD
Chief, Section of Neonatology, Perinatal and Pulmonary Biology
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Cincinnati, OH
Alveolar epithelial cell repair following deletion of ABCA3

Sarah Wootton, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of Guelph, Ontario Veterinary College
Guelph, ON, Canada
Molecular virologist, targeting AAV vectors to alveolar epithelial cells

Bill Miller, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Cincinnati, OH
Viral GPCR signaling in salivary epithelial cells

Publications

Epithelial Gpr116 regulates pulmonary alveolar homeostasis via Gq/11 signaling. Brown K, Filuta A, Ludwig MG, Seuwen K, Jaros J, Vidal S, Arora K, Naren AP, Kandasamy K, Parthasarathi K, Offermanns S, Mason RJ, Miller WE, Whitsett JA, Bridges JP. JCI Insight. 2017 Jun 2;2(11). pii: 93700. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.93700. eCollection 2017 Jun 2. Abstract
 
A Novel Triple-Mutant AAV6 Capsid Induces Rapid and Potent Transgene Expression in the Muscle and Respiratory Tract of Mice. van Lieshout LP, Domm JM, Rindler TN, Frost KL, Sorensen DL, Medina SJ, Booth SA, Bridges JP, Wootton SK. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev. 2018 Apr 14;9:323-329. doi: 10.1016/j.omtm.2018.04.005. eCollection 2018 Jun 15. Abstract
 
Alveolar injury and regeneration following deletion of ABCA3. Rindler TN, Stockman CA, Filuta AL, Brown KM, Snowball JM, Zhou W, Veldhuizen R, Zink EM, Dautel SE, Clair G, Ansong C, Xu Y, Bridges JP, Whitsett JA. JCI Insight. 2017 Dec 21;2(24). pii: 97381. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.97381. Abstract

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