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The human respiratory airways contain a distinct multipotent secretory cell lineage that can regenerate lung alveoli

ABSTRACT: The human lung differs substantially from its murine counterpart, resulting in a distinct distal airway architecture affected by disease pathology in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In humans, the distal branches of the airway interweave with the alveolar gas exchange niche, forming an anatomical structure known as the respiratory airways. Due to the lack of a murine counterpart, the cellular and molecular characterization of the respiratory airways in the human lung remains an enigma. We show that human respiratory airways contain a unique secretory cell population that is distinct from cells in larger proximal airways. Stem cell modeling reveal that these respiratory airway secretory cells (RASCs) act as unidirectional progenitors for alveolar type 2 cells, which are essential for maintaining and regenerating the alveolar niche. RASC lineage differentiation into AT2 cells is regulated, in part, by Notch signaling. In COPD, RASCs are altered transcriptionally, corresponding to abnormal AT2 cell states. These data identify a distinct progenitor in a region of the human lung not found in mouse that plays a critical role in maintaining the gas exchange compartment and is altered in chronic lung disease.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE168191 | GEO | 2021/12/09

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Alveoli are thin-walled sacs that serve as the gas exchange units of the lung. They are affected in devastating lung diseases including COPD, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, and the major form (adenocarcinoma) of lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths. The alveolar epithelium is composed of two morphologically distinct cell types: alveolar type (AT) 1 cells, exquisitely thin cells across which oxygen diffuses to reach the blood, and AT2 cells, specialized surfactant-secreting cells. Classical studies suggested that AT1 cells arise from AT2 cells during development and following injury, but more recent studies suggest other sources. Here we use histological and marker analysis, lineage tracing, and clonal analysis in mice to identify alveolar progenitor and stem cells and map their locations and potential in vivo. The results show that AT1 and AT2 cells arise independently during development from a bipotential progenitor. After birth, new AT1 cells derive from rare, long-lived, self-renewing AT2 cells, each producing a slowly expanding clonal focus of regenerated alveoli contiguous with the founder AT2 cell. This stem cell function of AT2 cells is broadly activated by diffuse AT1 cell injury, and AT2 self-renewal can be induced in vitro by EGF ligands and permanently activated in vivo by AT2 cell-specific targeting of the oncogenic KrasG12D allele, efficiently transforming AT2 cells into monoclonal adenomatous tumors that rapidly enlarge and prove fatal. Thus, there is a developmental switch in alveolar progenitor cells after birth, when mature AT2 cells function as facultative stem cells that contribute to local alveolar renewal, repair, and cancer. We propose that short-range signals from dying AT1 cells regulate AT2 stem cell activity: a signal transduced by EGFR-KRAS controls AT2 self-renewal and is hijacked during oncogenic transformation, and a separate signal controls reprogramming to AT1 cell fate. To compare expression between ATII and E18 BP populations, RNA was isolated from either population purified by FACS. Two populations are analyzed with 3 biological replicates per population.

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The human respiratory airways contain a distinct multipotent secretory cell lineage that can regenerate lung alveoli

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