title: Isolation of alveolar epithelial type II progenitor cells from adult human lungs.
abstract: Resident stem/progenitor cells in the lung are important for tissue homeostasis and repair. However, a progenitor population for alveolar type II (ATII) cells in adult human lungs has not been identified. The aim of this study is to isolate progenitor cells from adult human lungs with the ability to differentiate into ATII cells. We isolated colony-forming cells that had the capability for self-renewal and the potential to generate ATII cells in vitro. These undifferentiated progenitor cells expressed surface markers of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and surfactant proteins associated with ATII cells, such as CD90 and pro-surfactant protein-C (pro-SP-C), respectively. Microarray analyses indicated that transcripts associated with lung development were enriched in the pro-SP-C(+)/CD90(+) cells compared with bone marrow-MSCs. Furthermore, pathological evaluation indicated that pro-SP-C and CD90 double-positive cells were present within alveolar walls in normal lungs, and significantly increased in ATII cell hyperplasias contributing to alveolar epithelial repair in damaged lungs. Our findings demonstrated that adult human lungs contain a progenitor population for ATII cells. This study is a first step toward better understanding of stem cell biology in adult human lung alveoli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Preventive Medicine for Infectious Disease, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Aobaku, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujino
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Takaya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Chiharu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Ahmed E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Hegab
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Hidemasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Mutsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamaya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D056809:Alveolar Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000378:metabolism; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D037721:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein C / Q000378:metabolism; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011498:Protein Precursors; D037721:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein C; C489679:SFTPC protein, human; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens