Take-home messages from the ERS Lung Science Conference 2021
| Session | Type | Take-home messages |
| Opening lecture | Developmental programmes are reactivated in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and may represent an attempt at alveologenesis in the damaged lung. | |
| Cell plasticity in lung development and disease | Invited lectures | Innovative methods such as single cell RNA sequencing (scRNASeq) and lineage tracing can be used to characterise distinct cellular populations in the lungs. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) could be useful tools for the study of lung disease and regeneration. |
| Stem cell niche interactions | Symposium | External factors can impact the interaction between lipofibroblasts and alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells. The alveolar type 1 (AT1) cell is a signalling hub during alveologenesis. |
| Epithelial stem cell in disease | Symposium | Regarding squamous cell lung cancer (SqCC), step wise progression from metaplasia to carcinoma in situ and finally to invasive carcinoma is not irreversible and progressive samples had greater somatically acquired genetic damage than regressive samples. Lung cancers in smokers are clearly separated from lung cancers in nonsmokers based on the molecular and genetic analysis. Club cells are important in alveolar maintenance and carcinogenesis and may be a therapeutic target against premalignancy and chronic lung disease. |
| Lessons from limb regeneration of the axolotl | Keynote lecture | The understanding of molecular mechanisms of highly regenerative species may allow for uncovering processes for (re)activation of regenerative pathways in regeneration-incompetent species. |
| Cell–matrix interactions in the lung and beyond | Invited lectures | The extracellular matrix affects cell behaviour in several ways including mechanical cues, structure, composition, alignment and topology. Such effects have several implications on immune response, stem cell differentiation, cellular proliferation, and disease state. |
| Therapies: organoids, drugs, cell therapy | Invited lectures | Lung organoid culture techniques can be used to understand mechanisms of lung disease. Novel techniques can be used to better understand the clinical effect of mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy. Cellular reprogramming of cancer cells to antigen-presenting cells downregulates their tumourigenic capacity. |
| Early-career delegates session | Symposium | Pre-prints are important to accelerate science communication, facilitate networking. “Peer review” is a tool for scientific gatekeeping. Poor experimental design, unjustified conclusion, poor readability, poor introduction and poor review of literature, poorly described methods, confusing presentation are considered as reasons of getting rejections. Aim, Audience, Awareness, Articulation are the 4A principles of successful scientific writing. An ideal editorial should be an opinion maker, reconciliatory as well as providing its own intellectual contribution rather than just repeating or summarising findings of the publication it refers to. |
| Young investigator session | Oral presentations | Outstanding talks were given by early career scientists on their most recent advances in respiratory medicine and science. |