Copyright ©ERS Journals Ltd 2004 The use of alveolar epithelial type I cell-selective markers to investigate lung injury and repair1 MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. 2 Dept of Anatomy, Carl Gustav Carus Medical Faculty, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany. CORRESPONDENCE: M.C. McElroy, MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG, UK. Fax: 44 1316506528. E-mail: mmcelroy@ed.ac.uk Keywords: Alveolar epithelial type I cell, cell differentiation, fibrosis, marker, primary acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary injury
Received: August 21, 2003
M.C. McElroy is funded by the Norman Salvesen Emphysema Research Fund (Edinburgh, UK) and M. Kasper by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 13) (Bonn, Germany). Abstract
Alveolar epithelial type I cells cover most of the internal surface area of the lungs.
Ultrastructural studies demonstrate that alveolar epithelial type I cell damage is frequently observed in acute and chronic lung diseases.
This article discusses the use of cell-selective proteins as markers for the investigation of injury and repair of the alveolar epithelium. The utility of proteins specific to alveolar epithelial type I cells as diagnostic markers of alveolar epithelial injury in acute lung injury is considered, and expression of proteins selective for alveolar epithelial type I cells in lungs following injury and in fibrosis are discussed.
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