Airway cells are required for the maintenance of the adult mouse lung and for carcinogen-induced lung adenocarcinoma development, and are thus marked therapeutic targets.

Building on previous work (Dye et al., 2015) showing that pluripotent stem cell derived lung organoids were immature/fetal, the current study shows that in vivo transplantation leads to mature tissue, reminiscent of adult airways.

Notch ligands from the Delta and Jagged families have distinct roles in epithelial progenitor cell fate of extrapulmonary and intrapulmonary airways and differentially restrict expansion of the neuroendocrine microenvironment.

Lung interstitial macrophages are strategically positioned underneath the bronchial airway epithelium and enriched at airway bifurcations for immunosurveillance of the conducting airway lumen and the initiation of adaptive immune responses.

Cell replenishment within the airways is governed by the random division of a population of basal progenitor cells, in a process that is accelerated in smokers.

Submucosal glands are critical for two key respiratory host defenses, bactericidal activity and mucociliary transport, in an animal model that has lungs like humans.

The balance between SOX2 and SOX21 is evolutionary conserved and is important for cell fate decision during lung epithelium development and repair after damage.

The reduction of bicarbonate secretion into the airways reproduces cystic fibrosis-like features, independently of chloride secretion.

The chloride channel Ano1/Tmem16a plays an essential and non-redundant role in the developing airway by inhibiting mucus cell hyperplasia and promoting proper immune function of the airway mucosal barrier.

Using unique data from five longitudinal UK birth cohorts, four distinct subsets of genetic variants were identified as differentially associated across wheezing phenotypes from infancy to adolescence with little evidence of genetic associations spanning across different phenotypes.