Call for Papers: "Alveolar biology, pulmonary surfactant, and beyond": a tribute to Dr. John Allen Clements on his 100th birthday

EditorialAlveolar Biology, Pulmonary Surfactant, and BeyondCall for Papers: “Alveolar biology, pulmonary surfactant, and beyond”: a tribute to Dr. John Allen Clements on his 100th birthdayJesús Pérez-GilJesús Pérez-GilDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Research Institute “Hospital 12 de Octubre (i+12)”, Complutense University, Madrid, SpainPublished Online:07 Aug 2023https://doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00143.2023This is the final version - click for previous versionMoreSectionsPDF (192 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInWeChat Recently, in March 2023, Prof. John Allen Clements from the University of California at San Francisco celebrated his 100th birthday. This represents a unique and historic opportunity to recognize Dr. Clements’ outstanding contributions to the field of pulmonary physiology and, particularly, to the understanding of the key role of the pulmonary surfactant system in maintaining alveolar homeostasis (1).It was Prof. Clements who first identified, in the 1950s, the presence of a highly efficient surface-active substance, a “surfactant,” as a necessary element to facilitate proper lung mechanics during breathing dynamics (2, 3). His laboratory, together with those of Drs. Mary Ellen Avery and John Mead, who were pediatricians at Harvard Medical School (4), served to establish the lack of an operative surfactant as the major cause of mortality in premature infants forced to breathe air before their lungs were mature enough for it. The later development of exogenous surfactant therapies, providing the infants with an alternative surfactant material to allow the opening of their lungs, has saved thousands of lives since then (5, 6). Some of those clinical exogenous surfactants were developed by Clements’ laboratory (7). He received the 1994 Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award “for defining the role of pulmonary surfactant and developing a life-saving artificial surfactant used in premature infants around the world.”Prof. Clements was an enthusiastic pioneer in the combined multidisciplinary study of lung physiology and respiratory mechanics, not only promoting the combined work of medical doctors, biologists, physicists, and engineers, but also catalyzing the analysis and description of lung biology mechanisms with the details provided by molecular and cell biology. His laboratory, therefore, played an inspiring role in the development of our current vision of pulmonary biology.The mortality of very preterm infants is largely reduced nowadays thanks to pulmonary surfactant-related therapies and the support provided by highly advanced neonatal critical care units. However, severe respiratory pathologies are still among the leading cause of mortality worldwide, with contributions of impaired pulmonary surfactant function and lung mechanics that have not been completely established. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the latter often associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), still lack effective therapies, possibly because much knowledge about the molecular, cellular, immunological, and physiological mechanisms behind alveolar pathogenesis must still be integrated into our broader understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis.With this view in mind, this Call for Papers aims to recognize the inspiring multidisciplinary view of Prof. Clements by encouraging the submission of manuscripts that promote advancement in our current views on pulmonary biology, including, but not limited to, the role of pulmonary surfactant and the breathing mechanics of healthy and diseased lungs. Manuscripts highlighting the development of the most advanced diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in respiratory medicine are also encouraged. Topics welcomed would include, but would not be limited to:1) Biophysical mechanisms of pulmonary surfactant at breathing-like air-liquid interfaces, and the performance of surfactant in in vitro and in vivo models of pulmonary pathologies.2) Molecular and cellular mechanisms of lung homeostasis: single-cell and -omic approaches.3) Innovative methodologies to visualize and study pulmonary performance in health and disease, for example, radiological, microscopic, and lung-on-a-chip approaches.4) The role of innate and adaptive immune responses in alveolar defense and disease pathogenesis.5) Current models on the pathogenesis and therapy of severe respiratory pathologies, including ARDS, COPD, IPF, and COVID-19.6) Pulmonary drug delivery.If your manuscript fits the scope of this Call for Papers, please submit to the American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology via the eJournal Press portal. During the submission process, under the “Keywords & Special Sections” tab, select the “Category” drop-down menu and select Call for Papers: “Alveolar Biology, Pulmonary Surfactant, and Beyond.”Manuscripts will undergo normal peer review as they are received. Accepted manuscripts will be published online as they are accepted. Articles published from this Call for Papers will be highlighted at the time of publication. All manuscripts accepted from this Call for Papers will be included in an online article collection “Pulmonary surfactant.” Please address any questions related to the Call for Papers to the Lung Managing Editor at LungManagingEditor@physiology.org.Manuscripts submitted in response to this Call for Papers will be managed by our Board of Guest Editors, chaired by Prof. Jesús Pérez-Gil, composed of: Dr. Sunita Bhattacharya (Columbia University, New York, USA); Dr. Elena Lopez-Rodriguez (Charite Hospital, Berlin, Germany); Dr. Sandra Orgeig (University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia); Dr. Jesús Pérez-Gil (Complutense University, Madrid, Spain); Dr. Patricia Silveyra (Indiana University, Bloomington, USA); Dr. Ruud Veldhuizen (Western University, Ontario, Canada); and Dr. Yi Zuo (University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA).DISCLOSURESNo conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the author.AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONSJ.P.-G. drafted manuscript; edited and revised manuscript; and approved final version of manuscript.REFERENCES1. Clements JA. Lung surfactant: a personal perspective. Annu Rev Physiol 59: 1–21, 1997. doi:10.1146/annurev.physiol.59.1.1. Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar2. Clements JA. Surfactant in Pulmonary Disease. N Engl J Med 272: 1336–1337, 1965. doi:10.1056/NEJM196506242722507. Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar3. Clements JA. Functions of the alveolar lining. Am Rev Respir Dis 115: 67–71, 1977. doi:10.1164/arrd.1977.115.S.67. Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar4. Avery ME, Mead J. Surface properties in relation to atelectasis and hyaline membrane disease. AMA J Dis Child 97: 517–523, 1959. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1959.02070010519001. Crossref | PubMed | Google Scholar5. Autilio C, Perez-Gil J. Understanding the principle biophysics concepts of pulmonary surfactant in health and disease. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 104: F443–F451, 2019. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2018-315413. Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar6. Hentschel R, Bohlin K, van Kaam A, Fuchs H, Danhaive O. Surfactant replacement therapy: from biological basis to current clinical practice. Pediatr Res 88: 176–183, 2020. doi:10.1038/s41390-020-0750-8. Crossref | PubMed | ISI | Google Scholar7. Phibbs RH, Ballard RA, Clements JA, Heilbron DC, Phibbs CS, Schlueter MA, Sniderman SH, Tooley WH, Wakeley A. Initial clinical trial of EXOSURF, a protein-free synthetic surfactant, for the prophylaxis and early treatment of hyaline membrane disease. Pediatrics 88: 1–9, 1991. PubMed | ISI | Google ScholarAUTHOR NOTESCorrespondence: J. Pérez-Gil (jperezgil@bio.ucm.es). Download PDF Back to Top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation CollectionsAJP-Lung CollectionsAlveolar Biology, Pulmonary Surfactant, and Beyond: A Tribute to Dr. John Allen Clements on His 100th Birthday More from this issue > Volume 325Issue 2August 2023Pages L244-L245 Crossmark Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2023 the American Physiological Society.https://doi.org/10.1152/ajplung.00143.2023History Received 2 May 2023 Accepted 5 May 2023 Published online 7 August 2023 Published in print 1 August 2023 Keywordsair-liquid interfacealveolar biologydrug deliveryinhaled drug deliverylungpulmonary surfactantRDS Metrics