Cigarette smoke exposure alters innate immune signaling in macrophages

The goal of this project is to identify novel genes that contribute to inflammation in cigarette smoke induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Our lab is interested in a class of RNA genes called Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). There are over 16,000 lncRNAs in the human genome and less than 3% have defined functions. Here we aim to identify inflammatory specific lncRNAs that are dysregulated following cigarette smoke exposure in macrophages. Overall design: RNA-seq analysis of Bone Marrow Derived Macrophages from mice exposed to cigarette smoke.