Assessing angiotensin type II receptor (AT2R) agonists as novel anti-fibrotics in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating disease whereby progressive scarring over of the lungs leads to respiratory failure. There is a great clinical need for better treatments that can repair the lung damage seen in IPF. Repurposing drugs that are typically used to target the heart and kidneys (AT2R agonists) presents a novel and promising therapeutic strategy in IPF. In my PhD I have tested these AT2R agonists in several highly disease-relevant cell and tissue models, to better characterise their effects in the lung, in comparison to standard IPF treatments, and the mechanisms by which they exert therapeutic benefit.