Department of Drug Discovery for Lung Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Department of Drug Discovery for Lung Diseases, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Stem Cell Reports. 2024 Apr 9;19(4):529-544. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2024.02.009. Epub 2024 Mar 28.
Alveolar type 2 (AT2) epithelial cells are tissue stem cells capable of differentiating into alveolar type 1 (AT1) cells for injury repair and maintenance of lung homeostasis. However, the factors involved in human AT2-to-AT1 cell differentiation are not fully understood. Here, we established SFTPC and AGER dual-reporter induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which detected AT2-to-AT1 cell differentiation with high sensitivity and identified factors inducing AT1 cell differentiation from AT2 and their progenitor cells. We also established an "on-gel" alveolar epithelial spheroid culture suitable for medium-throughput screening. Among the 274 chemical compounds, several single compounds, including LATS-IN-1, converted AT1 cells from AT2 and their progenitor cells. Moreover, YAP/TAZ signaling activation and AKT signaling suppression synergistically recapitulated the induction of transcriptomic, morphological, and functionally mature AT1 cells. Our findings provide novel insights into human lung development and lung regenerative medicine.
肺泡 II 型 (AT2) 上皮细胞是组织干细胞,能够分化为肺泡 I 型 (AT1) 细胞,用于损伤修复和维持肺内环境稳定。然而,人类 AT2 到 AT1 细胞分化所涉及的因素尚未完全阐明。在这里,我们建立了 SFTPC 和 AGER 双报告诱导多能干细胞 (iPSC),其具有高灵敏度,可检测 AT2 到 AT1 细胞的分化,并鉴定出诱导 AT1 细胞分化的因子及其祖细胞。我们还建立了一种适合中高通量筛选的“on-gel”肺泡上皮细胞球体培养。在 274 种化学化合物中,包括 LATS-IN-1 在内的几种单一化合物可将 AT1 细胞从 AT2 及其祖细胞中诱导分化而来。此外,YAP/TAZ 信号的激活和 AKT 信号的抑制协同作用再现了转录组、形态和功能成熟的 AT1 细胞的诱导。我们的研究结果为人类肺发育和肺再生医学提供了新的见解。