Bidirectional epithelial - macrophage crosstalk promotes tissue repair in the lung

Epithelial structures are frequently damaged and injured by different insults, with rapid repair being essential to restore function and homeostasis. Dysregulated epithelial tissue repair occurs in several human disease states, yet how individual cell types communicate and interact to coordinate tissue regeneration is incompletely understood. Using RNAseq, we show that Macrophage-dependent induction of Nras and Bcas2 expression within the regenerating epithelium positively promoted epithelial proliferation, with amphiregulin from macrophages enhancing Nras expression. Overall design: RNAseq comparing flow sorted purified epithelium from Panx1+/+ and Panx1-/- mice at day four after napthalene-induced injury