Building and maintaining the epithelium of the lung
Craig R. Rackley, Barry R. Stripp
Craig R. Rackley, Barry R. Stripp
Published August 1, 2012
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2012;122(8):2724-2730. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI60519.
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Review Series

Building and maintaining the epithelium of the lung

Abstract

Airspaces of the lung are lined by an epithelium whose cellular composition changes along the proximal-to-distal axis to meet local functional needs for mucociliary clearance, hydration, host defense, and gas exchange. Advances in cell isolation, in vitro culture techniques, and genetic manipulation of animal models have increased our understanding of the development and maintenance of the pulmonary epithelium. This review discusses basic cellular mechanisms that regulate establishment of the conducting airway and gas exchange systems as well as the functional maintenance of the epithelium during postnatal life.

Authors

Craig R. Rackley, Barry R. Stripp

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Figure 1

Lung development in both mouse and human progresses through five overlapping phases based on successive branching: embryonic, pseudoglandular, canalicular, saccular, and alveolar (9).

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Lung development in both mouse and human progresses through five overlap...
The epithelium is initially composed of multipotent progenitor cells that proliferate and differentiate through development to yield more restricted, differentiated progeny that make up the developed lung epithelium. Signaling pathways that maintain the multipotent progenitor pool are indicated. HH, hedgehog; RA, retinoic acid.