About 25 million people in the United States, or about eight out of every 100, are diagnosed with asthma. Common triggers such as allergens, air pollution, and extreme weather can cause chronic lung inflammation that leads to coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath.
New research led by Binghamton University reveals that asthma attacks induce mechanical forces which permanently alter airway tissue. The study used advanced lung-on-a-chip technology to demonstrate that repeated mechanical stress from asthma attacks results in an overproduction of proteins for the extracellular matrix—structures that bind cells together—and stimulates overgrowth of blood vessels, a condition known as angiogenesis. Over time, these changes thicken airway tissue and restrict breathing.
The findings were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering by Assistant Professor Jungwook “Jay” Paek from Binghamton University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Paek collaborated with colleagues at Binghamton University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Toledo, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The paper builds on postdoctoral research Paek conducted at Penn under Professor Dan Huh before joining Binghamton in 2023.
“This is the first time that anyone has demonstrated the effect of a mechanical process on tissue remodeling — including both fibrosis and angiogenesis — in asthma patients,” Paek said, according to Binghamton University. “It’s groundbreaking, and that’s why a prestigious journal like Nature BME is publishing it.”
The organ-on-a-chip approach uses microfabrication techniques from the semiconductor industry to replicate human body conditions using small cultures of cells. For this study, researchers designed a microfluidic device capable of structurally deforming tissue by pressurizing or evacuating an adjacent chamber. They also explored how medication delivery could influence cell activity within this model—a step toward future treatment possibilities for asthma.
Binghamton doctoral student Anika Alim contributed to the project team despite her limited prior experience with bioengineering principles or laboratory work. “I started to learn about organ-on-a-chip on the very basic level,” she said. “Then I did a dive deep into how it can replicate human physiology. With this technology, we can see how our human body actually functions when asthma attacks happen.” Alim described her experience as highly collaborative thanks to Paek’s mentorship: “When I first started, he showed me everything himself — it was a very collaborative experience. I had no idea how to work with cells, but he was there at every step. I'm very grateful.”
Paek’s current research at Binghamton focuses on Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders—including studies examining blood circulation effects and National Institutes of Health-funded investigations into protein aggregates called Lewy bodies.
