Collagen VII Is Associated with Airway Remodeling, Honeycombing, and Fibroblast Foci in Usual Interstitial Pneumonia/Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

ABSTRACT: Collagen VII is an essential anchoring protein in the basement membrane zone, maintaining the attachment of stratified and pseudostratified epithelia to the underlying interstitial matrix. However, collagen VII is largely unexplored in normal lungs and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease characterized by excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix and aberrant re-epithelialization of fibrotic lung parenchyma. Analysis of collagen VII protein and mRNA encoded by COL7A1 gene in IPF distal lungs demonstrated elevated levels compared with those in normal lungs. To investigate its cellular source and spatial distribution in lung tissue, immunohistochemistry, RNAscope in situ hybridization, and cell culture experiments, in combination with analysis of public transcriptomic data set

SUBMITTER: Svobodova B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12405904 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature