Research in the Putnam laboratory focuses on the control of protein production related to lung fibrosis, using asbestos-caused fibrosis as a model system. We have identified SPARC, a matricellular protein involved in tissue repair, extracellular matrix (ECM) regulation, cellular proliferation, and cellular adhesion, as a candidate for involvement in the fibrosis that occurs after asbestos exposure. My laboratory is funded to explore the control of SPARC expression after asbestos exposure via RNA interference and thus fibrosis development as well.