Influenza Virus Infects Epithelial Stem/Progenitor Cells of the Distal Lung: Impact on Fgfr2b-Driven Epithelial Repair.

ABSTRACT: Influenza Virus (IV) pneumonia is associated with severe damage of the lung epithelium and respiratory failure. Apart from efficient host defense, structural repair of the injured epithelium is crucial for survival of severe pneumonia. The molecular mechanisms underlying stem/progenitor cell mediated regenerative responses are not well characterized. In particular, the impact of IV infection on lung stem cells and their regenerative responses remains elusive. Our study demonstrates that a highly pathogenic IV infects various cell populations in the murine lung, but displays a strong tropism to an epithelial cell subset with high proliferative capacity, defined by the signature EpCamhighCD24lowintegrin(α6)high. This cell fraction expressed the stem cell antigen-1, highly enriched lung stem/

SUBMITTER: Quantius J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4913929 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature