Isolation and characterization of distal lung progenitor cells

The majority of epithelial cells in the distal lung of rodents and humans are quiescent in vivo, yet certain cell populations retain an intrinsic capacity to proliferate and differentiate in response to lung injury or in appropriate culture settings, thus giving them properties of stem/progenitor cells. Here, we describe the isolation of two such populations from adult mouse lung: alveolar epithelial type 2 cells (AEC2), which can generate alveolar epithelial type 1 cells, and bronchioalveolar stem cells (BASCs), which in culture can reproduce themselves, as well as generate a small number of other distal lung epithelial cell types. These primary epithelial cells are typically isolated using enzyme digestion, mechanical disruption, and serial filtration. AEC2 and BASCs are distinguished from other distal lung cells by expression of specific markers as detected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, immunohistochemistry, or a combination of both of these techniques.