Emergence of a Wave of Wnt Signaling that Regulates Lung Alveologenesis by Controlling Epithelial Self-Renewal and Differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Alveologenesis is the culmination of lung development and involves the correct temporal and spatial signals to generate the delicate gas exchange interface required for respiration. Using a Wnt-signaling reporter system, we demonstrate the emergence of a Wnt-responsive alveolar epithelial cell sublineage, which arises during alveologenesis, called the axin2+ alveolar type 2 cell, or AT2^Axin2. The number of AT2^Axin2 cells increases substantially during late lung development, correlating with a wave of Wnt signaling during alveologenesis. Transcriptome analysis, in vivo clonal analysis, and ex vivo lung organoid assays reveal that AT2s^Axin2 promote enhanced AT2 cell growth during generation of the alveolus. Activating Wnt signaling results in the expansion of

SUBMITTER: Frank DB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5214982 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature