Transcriptome in alveolar epithelial progenitor cells isolated from adult human lung

Resident stem/progenitor cells in the lung are important for tissue homeostasis and repair. However, a progenitor population for alveolar type II (ATII) cells in adult human lungs have not been identified. Here we isolated alveolar epithelial progenitor cells (AEPCs) from adult human lungs. AEPCs showed mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like characteristics combined with ATII cell-phenotypes. AEPCs had the capability for self-renewal and the potential to generate ATII cells in vitro. Furthermore, cells expressing similar markers were present within alveolar walls in normal lungs and these cells were significantly increased in ATII cell hyperplasias. These results suggest that adult human lungs contain a progenitor population for ATII cells. We isolated AEPCs from tissue samples obtained from patients who underwent lung resection at the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Tohoku University Hospital. We profiled the gene expression in three different batches of the AEPCs. We extracted total RNA from the confluent cells at passage 4. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee at Tohoku University School of Medicine. All subjects gave informed consent.