Spatiotemporal Coordination of Stem Cell Behavior Following Alveolar Injury

Dr. Chioccioli:

• Described motility of alveolar stem cells as a new injury response mechanism in the lung and reveal properties of stem cell motility at high cellular resolution
• Explained early highly dynamic behavior of AT2 cells post injury, including migration within and between alveoli
• Characterized the emergence of at least three distinct morphokinetic AT2 cell states associated with AT2 stem cell injury response
• Shown how small molecule-based inhibition of Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) pathway significantly reduced motility of AT2 stem cells following injury and reduced expression of Krt8, a known marker of intermediate progenitor cells