Cells Webinar | Metabolic Alterations and Cellular Stress Responses in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

On Wednesday 29 June, MDPI and the journal Cells held the 18th webinar in the Cells series, titled "Metabolic Alterations and Cellular Stress Responses in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)".

The session was chaired by Prof. Irene Heijink of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Prof. Heijink leads the Experimental Pulmonology and Inflammation Research Group at the department of Pathology, Medical Biology and Pulmonology at the University of Groningen Medical Center. Her research focuses on the immunological barrier function and aberrant repair of the respiratory epithelium in asthma and COPD epithelium. Patient-specific in vitro models, including organoids, are used to study the interaction of epithelium with the environment, including inhaled insults, the extracellular matrix and immune cells.

The first speaker of the session was Dr. Alexander Remels, with a presentation titled "Cigarette Smoke-Induced Alterations in the Molecular Regulation of Mitochondrial Metabolism in Airway Epithelial Cells: Are Aldehydes the Culprit?". His research has focused on the impact of inflammatory processes on oxidative- and glycolytic energy metabolism in cardiac and skeletal musculature. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Maastricht University where he is involved in teaching within the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences and performing research on mitochondrial energy metabolism in multiple cell types and tissues and investigating potential pharmacological/nutritional modulation thereof in health and disease.

The second and final presentation was given by Dr. Simon Pouwels, titled "Mitochondrial DAMPs, Endogenous Danger Signals Fueling Airway Inflammation in COPD". His research line focuses on identifying the role of Damage Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) and their receptors in the pathophysiology of COPD, with a special focus on the DAMP receptor RAGE. We analyze levels of panels of DAMPs in various cohorts, investigate the cellular and molecular responses towards COPD triggers, e.g cigarette smoke, as well as investigate the immune reaction which is initiated by DAMPs.

Each speaker was followed by a Q+A session moderated by the chair. The webinar was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found here on Sciforum website. In order to stay updated on the next webinars on Cells, be sure to sign up for our newsletter by clicking on “Subscribe” at the top of the page.