Human respiratory airway progenitors derived from pluripotent cells generate alveolar epithelial cells and model pulmonary fibrosis

Dataset of all figures in manuscript describing the following (abstract)
Human lungs contain unique cell populations in distal respiratory airways and terminal bronchioles (RA/TRB) that accumulate in patients with lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a lethal lung disease. As these populations are absent in rodents, deeper understanding requires a human in vitro model. Here we convert human pluripotent stem cells into expandable spheres, called induced respiratory airway progenitors (iRAPs), consisting of ~98% RA/TRB-associated cell types. One hPSC can give rise to 1010 iRAP cells. We differentiate iRAPs through a stage consistent with transitional type 2 alveolar epithelial (AT2) cells into a population corresponding to mature AT1 cells with 95% purity. iRAPs with deletion of HPS1, which causes pulmonary fibrosis in humans, replicate the aberrant differentiation and recruitment of profibrotic fibroblasts observed in IPF, indicating that intrinsic dysfunction of RA/TRB-associated alveolar progenitors contributes to HPS1-related IPF. iRAPs may provide a system suitable for IPF drug discovery and validation.