Isolation of Murine Alveolar Type II Epithelial Cells

We have optimized a protocol for isolation of alveolar type II epithelial cells from mouse lung. Lung cell suspensions are prepared by intratracheal instillation of dispase and agarose followed by mechanical disaggregation of the lungs. Alveolar type II epithelial cells are purified from these lung cell suspensions through magnetic-based negative selection using a Biotin-antibody, Streptavidin-MicroBeads system. The purified alveolar type II epithelial cells can be cultured and maintained on fibronectin-coated plates in DMEM with 10% FBS. This protocol enables specific investigation of alveolar type II epithelial cells at molecular and cellular levels and provides an important tool to investigate in vitro the mechanisms underlying lung pathogenesis.