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The pleural mesothelium in development and disease
Hitesh Batra1, Veena B Antony1
1Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL, USA.
Frontiers in Physiology
|August 20, 2014
Summary
Pleural mesothelial cells (PMCs) can transform into myofibroblasts, contributing to lung fibrosis. Therapies targeting PMCs show potential for treating lung injury and disease.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- The pleura, a mesothelial cell layer, is crucial for lung development and function.
- Pleural Mesothelial Cells (PMCs) express Wilms tumor-1 (Wt1) and can undergo mesothelial-mesenchymal transition (MMT).
- Mesothelial cell differentiation is implicated in pleural and lung pathologies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of PMCs in lung development and disease.
- To explore the potential of PMCs in lung injury and repair.
- To assess pleural-based therapeutic strategies for lung conditions.
Main Methods:
- Lineage tracing studies in embryonic development and mouse models of lung fibrosis.
- Analysis of PMC differentiation into myofibroblasts in response to TGF-β1.
- Investigating the effect of heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1) on PMC migration.
- Utilizing targeted nanoparticles to track PMC migration into lung parenchyma.
Main Results:
- PMCs contribute to lung mesenchyme and vasculature formation via MMT.
- In lung fibrosis models, PMCs differentiate into myofibroblasts.
- Intra-pleural HO-1 induction mitigated PMC migration in fibrotic injury.
- Targeted nanoparticles successfully migrated into the lung parenchyma with PMCs.
Conclusions:
- PMCs possess regenerative potential, capable of modulating lung injury-repair by reactivating developmental programs.
- Pleural-based therapies targeting mesothelial cell activation may offer a novel approach for treating parenchymal lung diseases.
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