Defining signals that promote human alveolar type I differentiation

Alveolar type I (ATI) cells cover >95% of the lung's distal surface and facilitate gas exchange through their exceptionally thin shape. ATI cells in vivo are replenished by alveolar type II cell division and differentiation, but a detailed understanding of ATI biology has been hampered by the challenges in direct isolation of these cells due to their fragility and incomplete understanding of the signaling interactions that promote differentiation of ATII to ATI cells. Here, we explored the signals that maintain ATII versus promote ATI fates in three-dimensional (3-D) organoid cultures and developed a human alveolar type I differentiation medium (hATIDM) suitable for generating ATI cells from either mixed distal human lung cells or purified ATII cells. This media adds bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and removes epidermal growth factor (EGF), Wnt agonist CHIR99021, and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) inhibitor SB431542 from previously developed alveolar organoid culture media. We demonstrate that BMP4 promotes expression of the ATI marker gene AGER and HOPX, whereas CHIR99021 and SB431542 maintain expression of the ATII marker gene SFTPC. The human ATI spheroids generated with hATIDM express multiple molecular and morphological features reminiscent of human ATI cells. Our results demonstrate that signaling interactions among BMP, TGF-β, and Wnt signaling pathways in alveolar spheroids and distal lung organoids including IPF-organoids coordinate human ATII to ATI differentiation.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Alveolar type I (ATI) epithelial cells perform essential roles in maintaining lung function but have been challenging to study. We explored the signals that promote ATI fate in 3-D organoid cultures generated from either mixed distal human lung cells or purified alveolar type II (ATII) cells. This work fills an important void in our experimental repertoire for studying alveolar epithelial cells and identifies signals that promote human ATII to ATI cell differentiation.