Nature discovers new cell type with regenerative properties in human lungs

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered a new type of cell located deep in the human lung that may play a key role in human lung disease

The researchers, reporting their findings today in the journal Nature, analyzed human lung tissue to identify new cells, which they termed airway secretory cells (RASCs)

"COPD is a devastating common disease, but we really don't understand the cell biology of why or how some patients develop it

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is typically characterized by progressive damage and loss of alveoli, exacerbated by chronic inflammation

In the new study, Morrissey and his team found evidence of RASCs when examining the signature of gene activity in lung cells from healthy human donors

"With studies like this we're starting to understand, at the cellular biology level, what's really going on in this very common disease," said senior author Edward Morrisey, Ph.

By looking at similarities in gene activity between RASCs and AT2 cells, an important progenitor cell in the alveoli, the team made further discoveries: RASCs, in addition to their secretory function, also act as AT2 cell precursors -- enabling AT2 cells to regenerate to Maintain the number of AT2 cells and keep the alveoli healthy

AT2 cells are known to become abnormal in COPD and other lung diseases, and the researchers found that defects in RASCs may be an upstream cause of these abnormalities

More research is needed, but these findings suggest that future COPD treatments may work by restoring normal RASC-at2 differentiation processes, or even by replenishing the normal RASC population in damaged lungs, Morrisey said

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Human distal airways contain a multipotent secretory cell that can regenerate alveoli