Roth-Kleiner Matthias, Post Martin
Lung Biology Program, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, and Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Pediatr Pulmonol. 2005 Aug;40(2):113-34. doi: 10.1002/ppul.20252.
The lungs of small premature babies are at a developmental stage of finalizing their airway tree by a process called branching morphogenesis, and of creating terminal gas exchange units by a mechanism called septation. If the branching process is disturbed, the lung has a propensity to be hypoplastic. If septation is impaired, the terminal gas exchange units, the alveoli, tend to be enlarged and reduced in number, an entity known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Here, we review current knowledge of key molecules influencing branching and septation. In particular, we discuss the molecular similarities and dissimilarities between the two processes of airspace enlargement. Understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating branching and septation may provide perinatologists with targets for improving lung growth and maturation.
小早产儿的肺部正处于通过一种称为分支形态发生的过程来最终确定其气道树，并通过一种称为分隔的机制来形成终末气体交换单位的发育阶段。如果分支过程受到干扰，肺部就有发育不全的倾向。如果分隔受损，终末气体交换单位即肺泡往往会扩大且数量减少，这一实体被称为支气管肺发育不良。在此，我们综述了影响分支和分隔的关键分子的现有知识。特别是，我们讨论了气腔扩大的两个过程之间分子层面的异同。对调节分支和分隔的分子机制的理解可能会为围产医学专家提供促进肺生长和成熟的靶点。
