Researchers, who reported their findings from Nature today, analyzed Human lungs tissue to identify new cells, which they called respiratory airway secretory cells (RASCs). Cells line small branches of the airway, deep in the lungs, near alveoli structures where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. Scientists have shown that RASCs have stem cell-like structures that allow them to reproduce other cells that are essential for normal alveoli function. They also found evidence that smoking cessation and a common smoking-related disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could interfere with RASC rehabilitation activities – pointing out that correcting this disorder could be an effective treatment for COPD.
“COPD is a dangerous and common disease, but we do not really understand the cellular biology of why some patients grow. progressive injury and loss of alveoli, which exacerbate chronic inflammation. It is estimated that it affects about 10 percent of the population in some parts of the United States and causes about three million deaths worldwide each year.
Patients are often given anti-inflammatory steroids and / or oxygen therapy, but these treatments may delay the disease process rather than halt or reverse it. Progress in understanding COPD has been slow because the mice – a common lab animal – have lungs that do not have the essential features of human lungs.
Research found
In a new study, Morrisey and his team found RASC evidence while examining the signatures of genetic material from lung cells taken from healthy donors. They soon discovered that RASCs, which are not in the lungs of mice, are “secret” cells that live near the alveoli and produce the proteins needed for fluid in the airway fluid. Through research like this we are beginning to get an idea, at the cell-biology level, of what actually happens in this very common disease, “said senior author Edward Morrisey, PhD, Professor of Medicine for the Robinette Foundation, professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, and director of Penn-CHOP Lung. Biology Institute at Penn Medicine.
A look at genetic similarities between RASCs and an important progenitor cell in the alveoli called AT2 cells has led the group to further discovery: RASCs, in addition to their secret function, act as precursors of AT2 cells – regenerating them to retain human populations be AT2. and keep the alveoli healthy.
AT2 cells are known to be uncommon in COPD and other lung diseases, and researchers are finding evidence that paralysis in RASCs may be an increasingly common cause of those abnormalities. Lung tissue from people with COPD, as well as non-COPD people with a history of smoking, has seen many AT2 cells mutate in a way that reflects the erroneous transformation of RASC-to-AT2. More research is needed, Morrisey said, but the findings point to the possibility of future COPD treatments that work by restoring the normal RASC-to-AT2 separation process – or by replenishing the normal amount of RASC in injured lungs.
Source Journal Reference:Maria C. Basil, Fabian L. Cardenas-Diaz, Jaymin J. Kathiriya, Michael P. Morley, Justine Carl, Alexis N. Brumwell, Jeremy Katzen, Katherine J. Slovik, ApoorvaBabu, Su Zhou, Madison M. Kremp, Katherine B. McCauley, Shanru Li, Joseph D. Planer, Shah S. Hussain, Xiaoming Liu, Rebecca Windmueller, Yun Ying, Kathleen M. Stewart, Michelle Oyster, Jason D. Christie, Joshua M. Diamond, John F. Engelhardt, Edward Cantu, Steven M. Rowe, Darrell N. Kotton, Harold A. Chapman, Edward E. Morrisey. Human distal airways contain a multipotent secretory cell that can regenerate alveoli. Nature, 2022; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04552-0
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