Lung development is a complex process that starts prenatally with the formation of the airways (branching morphogenesis) and continues with the formation of the alveoli (alveolarization), which lasts until young adulthood. Prematurity, congenital defects, genetic lung disorders but also environmental factors may influence and/or disrupt the normal course of lung development and affect lung structure and function in later life. On the other hand, studies in humans and experimental animals have shown compensatory lung growth with neo-alveolarisation even in adulthood, but the mechanisms and the clinical relevance of these phenomena has not been studied in depth.
Although the basic mechanisms of lung development in the human lung are known, many aspects of this procedure, like regulatory pathways and compensatory processes, are still open. Moreover, technical difficulties in the past have not enabled the direct study of the impact of developmental lung defects on lung performance later in life. The goal of this research topic is to describe new approaches in the assessment of lung development after birth, both in humans and in experimental animals considering morphological and functional aspects. It also aims to describe recent advances in monitoring lung development during childhood in health and disease, and reveal the long-term consequences of developmental defects on lung performance later in life.
This research topic welcomes original research articles, methodological articles as well as reviews and perspectives related (but not limited) to:
• novel aspects of lung development mechanisms
• in vivo, in vitro and in silico studies on developmental lung defects
• lung growth studies on patients with lung defects
• impact of chronic lung diseases on lung development
• morphological evaluation of lung development
• environmental impact on lung development and growth
Lung development is a complex process that starts prenatally with the formation of the airways (branching morphogenesis) and continues with the formation of the alveoli (alveolarization), which lasts until young adulthood. Prematurity, congenital defects, genetic lung disorders but also environmental factors may influence and/or disrupt the normal course of lung development and affect lung structure and function in later life. On the other hand, studies in humans and experimental animals have shown compensatory lung growth with neo-alveolarisation even in adulthood, but the mechanisms and the clinical relevance of these phenomena has not been studied in depth.
Although the basic mechanisms of lung development in the human lung are known, many aspects of this procedure, like regulatory pathways and compensatory processes, are still open. Moreover, technical difficulties in the past have not enabled the direct study of the impact of developmental lung defects on lung performance later in life. The goal of this research topic is to describe new approaches in the assessment of lung development after birth, both in humans and in experimental animals considering morphological and functional aspects. It also aims to describe recent advances in monitoring lung development during childhood in health and disease, and reveal the long-term consequences of developmental defects on lung performance later in life.
This research topic welcomes original research articles, methodological articles as well as reviews and perspectives related (but not limited) to:
• novel aspects of lung development mechanisms
• in vivo, in vitro and in silico studies on developmental lung defects
• lung growth studies on patients with lung defects
• impact of chronic lung diseases on lung development
• morphological evaluation of lung development
• environmental impact on lung development and growth
