VANGL2 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: It is interesting to note that SERPINA3 (a protease inhibitor), SAA3 (serum amyloid A) and CD14, whose expression was increased in Vangl2-deficient murine lungs (Figure 4E), are activated in COPD patients and are biomarkers for COPD (Bozinovski et al., 2008; Wood et al., 2009; von Scheele et al., 2011).