Premium
High Resolution Evaluation of Human Airway Cell Diversity Towards Understanding the Cellular Composition and Function of the Distal Human Airways
Author(s) -
Basil Maria Ciocca,
Zacharias William,
Katzen Jeremy,
Carl Justine,
Li Shanru,
Morley Michael,
Englehardt John,
Cantu Edward,
Morrisey Edward
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.847.4
Subject(s) - lung , biology , cell type , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , airway , respiratory system , pathology , respiratory epithelium , stem cell , human lung , immunology , anatomy , medicine , genetics , surgery
The mammalian lung is a complex organ comprised of epithelial cells, supporting stroma, and capillaries, which combine to allow the lung to perform its principle function of gas exchange. Our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive lung development and repair is based almost entirely on the study of murine models. While the human lung has many similarities to its murine counterpart, it also contains additional complexity. Distinctive structures, such as the respiratory bronchioles – the most distal portion of the human respiratory tree – are not present in small mammals. The cellular composition and function of these distal human airways are not well understood, but this region of the human lung is involved in many pathological processes, including subsets of interstitial lung disease, chronic lung allograft rejection, and COPD. There is a need to better define the nature of these human‐specific lung epithelial lineages. In this study, we utilized single cell RNA‐seq technology, combined with high resolution imaging, to characterize epithelial cells from distal respiratory airways and proximal conducting airway across postnatal development. Functional relationship between these cell types were assessed with induced pluriportent stem cell assays and in vitro organoid systems. The airway epithelium of the distal terminal and respiratory bronchioles represent a distinct cellular subset. The identification and analysis of these cells provides insight into the unique organization of the human lung, as well as the role these populations play in human disease. Support or Funding Information 5T32HL007586‐32 This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .