A targeted treatment for emphysema?

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/bch-att073120.php

That research had found that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), known to be key for blood vessel development, also helps to keep lung tissue healthy, and that VEGF signaling goes awry in emphysema, hastening cell death.

In addition to emphysema, PR1P may have therapeutic potential for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a common and devastating disease which also has no cure and is also characterized by abnormalities in VEGF signaling. Adini and Matthews have funding from the Boston Biomedical Innovation Center (B-BIC) to support their ongoing work to develop PR1P as a therapeutic for both emphysema and ARDS.

"We are now also seeing dramatic lung-preserving and anti-inflammatory effects of inhaled PR1P in mice exposed to multiple diverse toxins that induce lung injury in ARDS models," says Adini.