IMPACT Research Seminar

Speaker: Dr Lorenzo D’Amico, Research Fellow Post-doc, Monash University & Elettra Italy

Topic: A Novel Multimodal Approach for Lung Fibrosis Characterization

Abstract: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a severe and progressive condition in which the lung becomes scarred over time resulting in pulmonary function impairment. Classical histopathology remains an important tool for micro-structural tissue assessment in the diagnosis of PF. A novel workflow based on spatial correlated propagation-based phase-contrast micro computed tomography (PBI-microCT), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and histopathology was developed and applied to two different preclinical mouse models of PF - the commonly used and well characterized Bleomycin-induced PF and a novel mouse model for progressive PF caused by conditional Nedd4-2 KO. The aim was to integrate structural, chemical, and mechanical features from hallmarks of fibrotic lung tissue remodeling. PBI-microCT was used to assess structural alteration in whole fixed and paraffin embedded lungs, allowing for identification of fibrotic foci within the 3D context of the entire organ and facilitating targeted microtome sectioning of planes of interest for subsequent histopathology. Subsequently, these sections of interest were subjected to FTIR to retrieve the collagen I and III content and AFM to assess changes in the local tissue stiffness of previously identified structures of interest. This workflow for 3D spatial correlation of PBI, targeted histopathology and subsequent FTIR and AFM is tailored around the standard procedure of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens, it may be a powerful tool for the comprehensive tissue assessment beyond the scope of PF and preclinical research.

Bio: Lorenzo D’Amico comes from Trieste (Italy). He holds a master’s degree in biomedical engineering and a PhD in Nanotechnology, both issued by the University of Trieste. During his PhD he worked at SYRMEP the imaging beamline of Elettra, the Italian synchrotron, and in March 2024 joined the IMPACT Synergy Project at the Monash University & Elettra Italy.