Key cellular channel identified as a brake on lung scarring

27 February 2026

Pulmonary fibrosis is a serious and often fatal condition in which lung tissue becomes progressively scarred, stiff, and less able to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream. With limited treatment options and no cure other than lung transplantation, there is an urgent need to understand the biological mechanisms that drive this disease. A new study from the Grimm Group, published in The EMBO Journal, identifies a previously unrecognised protective role for a cellular ion channel called TRPML1 in preventing lung scarring. The research shows that when this channel is absent or non-functional, the lungs develop a fibrosis-like condition marked by excessive accumulation of structural proteins such as collagen and elastin