Mitochondria (in red) in alveolar myofibroblasts are enriched in regions where new septa are created in the final stages of alveolar formation. Image credits: Zhang et al. (CC BY 4.0)
The lungs display an intricate, tree-shaped structure which enables the complex gas exchanges required for life. The end of each tiny ‘branch’ hosts delicate air sacs, or alveoli, which are further divided by internal walls called septa. In mammals, this final structure is acquired during the last stage of lung development. Then, many different types of cells in the immature alveoli multiply and reach the right location to start constructing additional septa.
While the structural changes underlining alveoli maturation are well-studied, the energy requirements for that process remain poorly understood. In particular, the exact role of the mitochondria, the cellular compartments that power most life processes, is still unclear.
Zhang et al. therefore set out to map, in detail, the role of mitochondria in alveolar development. Microscope imaging revealed how mitochondria were unevenly distributed within the lung cells of newborn mice. Mitochondria accumulated around the machinery that controls protein secretion in the epithelial cells that line the air sacs, and around the contractile apparatus in the underlying cells (the ‘myofibroblasts’).
Genetically altering the mice to reduce mitochondrial activity or perturb mitochondrial location in these two cell types produced defective alveoli with fewer septa, but it had no effect on lung development before alveoli formation. This suggests that the formation of alveoli requires more energy than other steps of lung development. Disrupting mitochondrial activity or location also compromised how epithelial cells produced chemical signals necessary for the contraction or migration of the myofibroblasts.
Together, these results highlight the importance of tightly regulating mitochondrial activity and location during lung patterning. In the future, this insight could lay the groundwork to determine how energy requirements in various tissues shape other biological processes in health and disease.
