Transcriptome in alveolar epithelial type II cells isolated from normal and COPD lungs of adult human

Alveolar epithelial type II (ATII) cells play a critical role in homeostasis and repair process of the lungs. In lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ATII cells are damaged and fall into apoptosis or senescence. Until to date, global gene expression of ATII cells in COPD lungs has not been analyzed. We isolated ATII cells from three non-COPD and three COPD patients using a FACS method. Then, we performed microarray analysis to compare gene expression profiles of ATII cells between non-COPD and COPD patients. Primary ATII cells were isolated from lung tissues obtained from thoracic surgery using FACS. We profiled the gene expression of ATII cells from three non-COPD and three COPD patients. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee at Tohoku University School of Medicine and Ishinomaki Red Cross Hospital. All subjects gave informed consent.