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Lung Cancer Awareness Month Examining Airways
05 November 2015

Examining Airways

In order to develop improved treatments for respiratory diseases, more information is needed about the cells involved. Recently, the gene KIF7 has been shown to play a significant role in the function and cycle of cells in our lung airways. It’s important from the very beginning, ensuring that embryonic cells receive the information they need to develop correctly, communicating by ‘hedgehog signalling’ – named after another key gene called hedgehog. A faulty KIF7 gene can lead to various genetic respiratory disorders, such as asthma, or can be responsible for illnesses such as lung cancer later in life. Researchers are now studying KIF7 in greater detail. Pictured is a section of foetal lung with fluorescent tags, showing the expression pattern of KIF7 in green. Studying where KIF7 is in response to lung injury and regeneration is of particular interest as it might provide clues to a new therapeutic target for lung disease.

November is the UK's Lung Cancer Awareness month.

Written by Helen Thomas

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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