Identification and characterization of Bronchioalveolar stem cells

Objective: The evidence that bronchioalveolar stem cells (BASCs) serve as a real stem cell type for the distal lung has been challenged recently. It is currently unclear what their function is and how their pool and progeny is regulated during lung regeneration and repair. The aim of this study is to identify and characterize BASCs from adult mouse lung by improved detection methods to analyse changes introduced selectively by genetic targeting. Results: We identified by immunohistochemistry the proposed BASC cell population coexpressing SP-C, a marker for alveolar type 2 cells, and CCSP, a marker for bronchial…