Repopulation of Human Pulmonary Epithelium by Bone Marrow Cells: A Potential Means to Promote Repair

After lung injury and damage to the alveolar epithelium, the underlying basement membranes become exposed. Proliferation of type II pneumocytes and their differentiation to the type I phenotype have been considered to be the mechanism by which repopulation of the alveolar epithelium occurs. A growing body of evidence has shown that tissues can be repaired by cells acquired via the circulation. For the lung, bone marrow stem cells have been shown in mice to regenerate epithelium as well as give rise to the expected mesodermal derivatives. "Source":[ http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/ten.2005.11.1115].

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