PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Maria R. Bonsignore AU - Mirella Profita AU - Rosalia Gagliardo AU - Loredana Riccobono AU - Giuseppina Chiappara AU - Elisabetta Pace AU - Mark Gjomarkaj TI - Advances in asthma pathophysiology: stepping forward from the Maurizio Vignola experience AID - 10.1183/09059180.10011114 DP - 2015 Mar 01 TA - European Respiratory Review PG - 30--39 VI - 24 IP - 135 4099 - http://err.ersjournals.com/content/24/135/30.short 4100 - http://err.ersjournals.com/content/24/135/30.full SO - EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW2015 Mar 01; 24 AB - Maurizio Vignola was a superb and innovative researcher, who wrote seminal papers on the biology of airway epithelium in asthma. Inflammation and remodelling were the main topics of his research, mostly conducted in biopsy specimens from patients with asthma of variable severity, encompassing the entire spectrum of the disease from mild to severe asthma. His observations contributed to define the biology of asthma as we know it today, and opened the way to the personalised treatment of asthma. His group has successfully continued to investigate the biology and clinical aspects of bronchial asthma, with major interest in the clinical use of biomarkers to monitor disease activity, and in the development of new therapeutic perspectives. This review summarises the latest work on these topics proudly conducted by Maurizio's closest collaborators. The results indicate significant progress in our understanding of asthma in the last 10 years, in particular increased knowledge of the complex interaction between inflammatory and remodelling pathways, improved recognition of biological and clinical asthma phenotypes, and development of new treatment strategies, especially for patients with severe corticosteroid-resistant asthma. Biomarkers may help to define disease phenotypes and new treatment strategies for asthma http://ow.ly/G2Fl6