Mapping the Cellular and Molecular Dynamics of Alveolar Stem Cells and Niche Remodeling in Tissue Regeneration and Pulmonary Fibrosis

Abstract

Recently, the prevalence and incidence of IPF have been increasing worldwide, but there is no treatment for this condition. Key characteristics of IPF include myofibroblast generation, inflammatory cell recruitment, and destruction of alveolar epithelial cells. Treatments targeting myofibroblast generation and inflammatory cell recruitment have proven ineffective, so our focus has shifted to alveolar epithelial cell destruction. It is necessary to understand the pulmonary epithelial stem cells in order to understand the lung regeneration process, which is the repair process caused by lung damage. According to a previously published study, the transient cell state observed in pulmonary fibrosis and other alveolar injury situations occurs during the differentiation of alveolar stem cells into functional cells. So, if we understand which factors regulate the differentiation or accumulation of this transient cell state, it can help us to find treatments for lung damage that have not yet been discovered, including pulmonary fibrosis. To explore this, we will investigate how alveolar stem cells change under chronic injury conditions and how the surrounding microenvironment evolves.Recently, the prevalence and incidence of IPF have been increasing worldwide, but there is no treatment for this condition. Key characteristics of IPF include myofibroblast generation, inflammatory cell recruitment, and destruction of alveolar epithelial cells. Treatments targeting myofibroblast generation and inflammatory cell recruitment have proven ineffective, so our focus has shifted to alveolar epithelial cell destruction. It is necessary to understand the pulmonary epithelial stem cells in order to understand the lung regeneration process, which is the repair process caused by lung damage. According to a previously published study, the transient cell state observed in pulmonary fibrosis and other alveolar injury situations occurs during the differentiation of alveolar stem cells into functional cells. So, if we understand which factors regulate the differentiation or accumulation of this transient cell state, it can help us to find treatments for lung damage that have not yet been discovered, including pulmonary fibrosis. To explore this, we will investigate how alveolar stem cells change under chronic injury conditions and how the surrounding microenvironment evolves.