Scientists are used to working with mice as analogs for the human body, but some who study lung function were frustrated that mouse lungs don't act like human lungs. A team led by Edward Morrisey of the University of Pennsylvania took tissue samples from healthy human donors to see how they differed from mouse lungs at the cellular level. What they found was a new kind of cell in human lungs that mice didn't have. These cells are called respiratory airway secretory (RAS) cells.
RAS cells appear to have two functions. First, they secrete chemicals that maintain the fluid along the bronchioles, which help to makes lungs work efficiently. But they can also act as a sort of stem cell. RAS cells can change themselves into alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells when needed, in order to repair damage to the alveoli. Further research into RAS cells may lead to treatments for damaged lungs, as in COPD.
RAS cells have also been found in ferrets, which lead scientists to think that maybe mice are just too small of an animal for their particular studies. Read more about the discovery at Live Science. -via Damn Interesting
(Image creditL: UNSHAW)
