Researchers planned to investigate on endothelial dysfunction as a key event of CF inflammation, triggered by the molecular defect of CF. Laboratory evidence suggested that the molecular defect of CF affects, in addition to respiratory cells, other cells such as platelets and leukocytes, which take an active part in the inflammatory response. After having established that dysfunction of CFTR alters also key functions of the Endothelial Cells (EC), with the present project they wanted to analyse the molecular mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction in CF aiming to clarify the clinical significance of EC and Endothelial MicroParticles (EMP) that they release in the blood. To this end, they carried out experiments with cultured endothelial cells, both normal and from CF lung vessels, explanted during transplantation. In this way they expected to identify a) Mechanisms of CF inflammation, b) Biomarkers of endothelial damage in CF, c) Targets for more efficient anti-inflammatory therapy.