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Updated: Apr 19, 2026
Engineered Lung Tissues Prepared from Decellularized Lung Slices
Published on: January 21, 2022
Second and third trimester amniotic fluid mesenchymal stem cells can repopulate a de-cellularized lung scaffold and
Stephanie Vadasz1, Todd Jensen1, Camilo Moncada1
1Department of Vascular Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue MC3501, Farmington, CT 06030.
Background/Purpose:
This study examined the potential of amniotic fluid mesenchymal stem cells (AF-MSCs) to generate lung precursor cells in vitro and on a xenologous three-dimensional de-cellularized lung scaffold.
Methods:
AF-MSCs were isolated from human amniotic fluid obtained from 17-37 weeks gestation. Lung differentiation was induced on Matrigel or on de-cellularized rat lungs intra-tracheally injected with AF-MSCs by culturing with a modification of small airway growth medium (mSAGM) lacking retinoic acid (RA) and triodothyronine (T3) with addition of fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF10). Cells and scaffolds were characterized by immunofluorescence and RT-PCR for markers of viability, proliferation, and lung distal airway differentiation (TTF-1(+) and SPC(+)) in the absence of markers of brain (TuJ1(-)) and thyroid (Pax8(-)).
Results:
After culture in mSAGM on either Matrigel or lung scaffolds, there were TTF-1(+)/TuJ1(-)/Pax8(-) cells, indicating a lung precursor phenotype. In addition, SPC(+) cells also evolved suggesting a more mature lung phenotype.
Conclusions:
We demonstrate that mid- to late-trimester AF-MSCs can be induced to develop into lung precursor cells when cultured on the appropriate extracellular matrix (ECM), making them a viable source for use in cell therapy or development of an ex vivo tissue engineered lung.
