Lung Stem/Progenitor Cells: Regulatory Mechanisms of Behavior, Development and Regeneration

Abstract

New insights have been added to identification and characterization of stem and progenitor cells in the lung over the last few years. The exploration of endogenous lung stem and progenitor cells holds promise for advancing our understanding of the biology of lung repair and regeneration mechanisms after injury. This will also help in the future use of stem cell therapy for the development of regenerative medicine approaches for the treatment of different lung diseases. In this concise review, we describe the main types of lung stem/progenitor cell populations as well as summarize recent research progress and accumulated information regarding the behavior, development and function of stem/progenitor cells in the lung, and factors controlling their repair/regeneration after injury as well as molecular mechanisms regulating lung stem/progenitor cell behavior during development.