Dysregulation of epithelial JAK/STAT-signaling leads to malformation of the fruit fly's airways

Worldwide, many hundred million people suffer from chronic respiratory diseases like COPD, pulmonary hypertension and asthma. Beside genetic predisposition there are many risk factors like allergens, tobacco smoke and air pollution that may promote development of asthma. However, the signaling components relevant for pathogenesis are not yet fully understood. Key members of the evolutionary highly conserved JAK/STAT pathway (STAT3/6) are known to mediate susceptibility to asthma. We used Drosophila melanogaster to analyze the role of JAK/STAT signaling in the fly's airway epithelium under different stress condit…