title: Behavioral heterogeneity of adult mouse lung epithelial progenitor cells.
abstract: The existence and identity of multipotent stem cells in the adult lung is currently highly debated. At present, it remains unclear whether candidate stem/progenitor cells are located in the airways, alveoli, or throughout the epithelial lining of the lung. Here, we introduce a method of airway microdissection, which enabled us to study the progenitor behavior of pulmonary epithelial cells in region-specific contexts. The progenitor characteristics of epithelial cells isolated from the trachea, proximal and distal airways, and lung parenchyme were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. We identified a population of airway-derived basal-like epithelial cells with the potential to self-renew and differentiate into airway and alveolar lineages in culture and in vivo after subcutaneous transplantation. The multipotent candidate progenitors originated from a minor fraction of the airway epithelial cell population characterized by high expression of α6 integrin. Results of the current study provide new insights into the regenerative potential of region-specific integrin α6-positive pulmonary epithelial cells.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Anesthesiology, University of Illinois at Chicago , Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chernaya
authors.forename: Vasily
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shinin
authors.forename: Yuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Richard D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Minshall
mesh_terms: D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D039503:Integrin alpha6 / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D039503:Integrin alpha6