Department of Anesthesia, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
N Engl J Med. 2011 May 12;364(19):1795-806. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1101324.
Although progenitor cells have been described in distinct anatomical regions of the lung, description of resident stem cells has remained elusive.
Surgical lung-tissue specimens were studied in situ to identify and characterize human lung stem cells. We defined their phenotype and functional properties in vitro and in vivo.
Human lungs contain undifferentiated human lung stem cells nested in niches in the distal airways. These cells are self-renewing, clonogenic, and multipotent in vitro. After injection into damaged mouse lung in vivo, human lung stem cells form human bronchioles, alveoli, and pulmonary vessels integrated structurally and functionally with the damaged organ. The formation of a chimeric lung was confirmed by detection of human transcripts for epithelial and vascular genes. In addition, the self-renewal and long-term proliferation of human lung stem cells was shown in serial-transplantation assays.
Human lungs contain identifiable stem cells. In animal models, these cells participate in tissue homeostasis and regeneration. They have the undemonstrated potential to promote tissue restoration in patients with lung disease. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health.).
尽管在肺部的不同解剖区域已经描述了祖细胞，但对常驻干细胞的描述仍然难以捉摸。
对手术肺组织标本进行原位研究，以鉴定和表征人肺干细胞。我们在体外和体内定义了它们的表型和功能特性。
人的肺部含有未分化的人肺干细胞，这些细胞位于远端气道的巢中。这些细胞在体外具有自我更新、克隆形成和多能性。在体内注射到受损的小鼠肺中后，人肺干细胞形成人小支气管、肺泡和肺血管，与受损器官在结构和功能上整合。通过检测上皮和血管基因的人类转录本证实了嵌合肺的形成。此外，在连续移植实验中证实了人肺干细胞的自我更新和长期增殖。
人的肺部含有可识别的干细胞。在动物模型中，这些细胞参与组织稳态和再生。它们具有在肺部疾病患者中促进组织修复的未被证明的潜力。（由美国国立卫生研究院资助）。
