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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Mouse Embryonic Lung Culture, A System to Evaluate the Molecular Mechanisms of Branching
Published on: June 30, 2010
Apoptosis of mesenchymal cells during the pseudoglandular stage of lung development affects branching morphogenesis
Cherry Wongtrakool1, Jesse Roman
1Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
Abstract:
Apoptosis has been implicated as an important process in the development of several organ systems, including limbs, kidneys, and the heart. In developing murine lungs, the authors found that apoptosis was more predominant during the pseudoglandular stage of lung development than during the saccular stage, with 93% of the apoptotic structures in the mesenchyme. Murine lung explants cultured in the presence of zinc chloride and aurintricarboxylic acid, 2 blockers of endonuclease function, showed decreased branching. These observations suggest that apoptosis predominates in mesenchymal cells during the pseudoglandular stage of lung development, and may be important for normal progression of lung branching morphogenesis.
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