Functional characterization of pulmonary neuroendocrine cells in lung development, injury, and tumorigenesis.

ABSTRACT: Pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNECs) are proposed to be the first specialized cell type to appear in the lung, but their ontogeny remains obscure. Although studies of PNECs have suggested their involvement in a number of lung functions, neither their in vivo significance nor the molecular mechanisms underlying them have been elucidated. Importantly, PNECs have long been speculated to constitute the cells of origin of human small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and recent mouse models support this hypothesis. However, a genetic system that permits tracing the early events of PNEC transformation has not been available. To address these key issues, we developed a genetic tool in mice by introducing a fusion protein of Cre recombinase and estrogen receptor (CreER) into the calcitonin gene-related pe

SUBMITTER: Song H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3491514 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature