The Glandular Stem/Progenitor Cell Niche in Airway Development and Repair

Xiaoming Liu; John F Engelhardt

doi:10.1513/pats.200801-003AW

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The Glandular Stem/Progenitor Cell Niche in Airway Development and Repair

Journal article

Open access

The Glandular Stem/Progenitor Cell Niche in Airway Development and Repair

Xiaoming Liu and John F Engelhardt

Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society, Vol.5(6), pp.682-688

08/15/2008

DOI: 10.1513/pats.200801-003AW

PMCID: PMC2645260

PMID: 18684717

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Abstract

Airway submucosal glands (SMGs) are major secretory structures that lie beneath the epithelium of the cartilaginous airway. These glands are believed to play important roles in normal lung function and airway innate immunity by secreting antibacterial factors, mucus, and fluid into the airway lumen. Recent studies have suggested that SMGs may additionally serve as a protective niche for adult epithelial stem/progenitor cells of the proximal airways. As in the case of other adult stem cell niches, SMGs are believed to provide the localized environmental signals required to both maintain and mobilize stem/progenitor cells, in the setting of normal cellular turnover or injury. Aberrant proliferation and differentiation of glandular stem/progenitor cells may be associated with several hypersecretory lung diseases, including chronic bronchitis, asthma, and cystic fibrosis. To better understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate the specification and proliferation of glandular stem/progenitor cells in lung diseases associated with SMG hypertrophy and hyperplasia, researchers have begun to search for the molecular signals and cell types responsible for establishing the glandular stem/progenitor cell niche, and to dissect how these determinants of the niche change in the setting of proximal airway injury and repair. Such studies have revealed certain similarities between stem/progenitor cell niches of the distal conducting airways and the SMGs of the proximal airways.

lung

repair

stem cell niche

development

Twenty-Third Transatlantic Airway Conference

airway

Progenitor Cells and Lung Repair

Stem

submucosal gland

Details

Title: Subtitle: The Glandular Stem/Progenitor Cell Niche in Airway Development and Repair
Creators: Xiaoming Liu - Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
John F Engelhardt - Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society, Vol.5(6), pp.682-688
DOI: 10.1513/pats.200801-003AW
PMID: 18684717
PMCID: PMC2645260
NLM abbreviation: Proc Am Thorac Soc
ISSN: 1546-3222
eISSN: 1943-5665
Publisher: American Thoracic Society
Language: English
Date published: 08/15/2008
Academic Unit: Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Anatomy and Cell Biology; Radiation Oncology; Internal Medicine
Record Identifier: 9984025310402771

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