美国研究人员5月11日说，已首次确认可自我更新的人体肺干细胞，或许能够为治疗慢性肺病提供帮助。
先前一些研究显示，研究人员可以借助人体胚胎干细胞培育肺细胞。不过，这次获得确认的肺干细胞来自经由外科分离的成人肺组织。最新研究成果论文刊载于美国《新英格兰医学杂志》（NEJM）周刊。
论文作者之一、美国布里格姆再生药物研究中心负责人皮耶罗·安韦萨告诉法新社记者：“这项研究第一次描述了真正的肺干细胞。”
“这一干细胞的发现向那些慢性肺病患者提供潜在治疗选择，可使肺部再生或修复肺部受损区域。”
安韦萨说，之所以称这次发现的细胞为真正肺干细胞，原因包括这些细胞可以自我更新、可以形成各种不同形式的肺细胞。
另一名论文作者约瑟夫·洛斯卡尔佐说：“这是至关重要的第一步，以研发临床治疗手段，帮助那些肺病无法得到治疗的患者。”
“我们还需要进一步研究，但这一发现能够影响我们再生或再造肺组织的能力，从而替换那些破损的区域，”洛斯卡尔佐说，“这令我们兴奋。”（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
N Engl J Med 2011; 364:1795-1806
Evidence for Human Lung Stem Cells
Jan Kajstura, Ph.D., Marcello Rota, Ph.D., Sean R. Hall, Ph.D., Toru Hosoda, M.D., Ph.D., Domenico D'Amario, M.D., Fumihiro Sanada, M.D., Hanqiao Zheng, M.D., Barbara Ogórek, Ph.D., Carlos Rondon-Clavo, M.D., Jo?o Ferreira-Martins, M.D., Alex Matsuda, M.D., Christian Arranto, M.D., Polina Goichberg, Ph.D., Giovanna Giordano, M.D., Kathleen J. Haley, M.D., Silvana Bardelli, Ph.D., Hussein Rayatzadeh, M.D., Xiaoli Liu, M.D., Ph.D., Federico Quaini, M.D., Ronglih Liao, Ph.D., Annarosa Leri
Background Although progenitor cells have been described in distinct anatomical regions of the lung, description of resident stem cells has remained elusive. Methods Surgical lung-tissue specimens were studied in situ to identify and characterize human lung stem cells. We defined their phenotype and functional properties in vitro and in vivo. Results Human lungs contain undifferentiated human lung stem cells nested in niches in the distal airways. These cells are self-renewing, clonogenic, and multipotent in vitro. After injection into damaged mouse lung in vivo, human lung stem cells form human bronchioles, alveoli, and pulmonary vessels integrated structurally and functionally with the damaged organ. The formation of a chimeric lung was confirmed by detection of human transcripts for epithelial and vascular genes. In addition, the self-renewal and long-term proliferation of human lung stem cells was shown in serial-transplantation assays. Conclusions Human lungs contain identifiable stem cells. In animal models, these cells participate in tissue homeostasis and regeneration. They have the undemonstrated potential to promote tissue restoration in patients with lung disease. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health.)
