#lung development

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Air pollution slows lung growth during childhood, UK study shows

Researchers find breathing more air pollution can slow lung development all the way up to early adulthood

Research shows that air pollution is slowing the lung growth of children in the UK. Scientists tracked the lung function of more than 5,000 people who were born in and around Bristol in the 1990s. The health of the Children of the 90s cohort was assessed from birth onwards and their lungs were tested as they grew up, at eight and 15 years old and then as adults, aged 24, when their lung function should have reached its maximum. Prof Anna Hansell, of the University of Leicester, who led the study, said: “Much of the evidence on health effects of air pollution relates to adults or pregnancy, but we think it’s highly plausible it has impacts on growth and development of children. “Those whose lungs didn’t grow to maximum potential in childhood may be more vulnerable to the respiratory diseases of later life because they have a lower reserve. They are also more vulnerable to poorer health generally. For instance, low lung function in adults is associated with the same level of risk of heart disease as having high cholesterol. Research has also shown that people whose lung health has been affected by air pollution may be at greater risk of heart disease.”

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BOVINE FETAL LUNG DEVELOPMENT

BOVINE FETAL LUNG DEVELOPMENT

BOVINE FETAL LUNG DEVELOPMENT

Abstract:

Fetal lung tissue obtained from abattoirs was examined histochemically using alpha-napthyl butyrate (nonspecific method), to defect the presence of pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAM). Esterasepositive alveolar macrophages, which appear in the alveolar septa and lumina were first seen at 240 days of gestation. These macrophages were identified by the…

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Breath In, Branch Out

Inadequate lung development can lead to a variety of pediatric disorders, especially in babies born prematurely. Understanding what drives proper lung development is important to developing new therapies for children with these disorders, but researching this can be complicated because the conclusions derived from studies in animals do not always cross over well to humans.

“Over the last decade, a lot of data emerged from animal studies that may or may not be applicable to humans. Hence, our goal is to focus on what drives proper lung development in the human lung,” says Denise Al Alam, PhD, principal investigator in the Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine Program at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles whose laboratory studies the branching of airways in the developing lung.

Here we see branching in a 10-week old human fetal lung. Using fluorescent antibodies, researchers imaged epithelial cells along the branches in the lung (blue), smooth muscle cells (red) and nerve cells (green). With a confocal microscope, they were able to generate this 3D image of the lung.

“We see here an intriguing pattern of smooth muscle cells where they form a knot in the middle of the epithelial buds, forming a bow-tie like pattern,” explains Al Alam. “Additionally, previous studies have shown that nerve cells are important for branching in mouse lung, though the pattern and distribution of nerve cells in the developing lung are yet to be described. Here we show the presence of nerve cells extending along the smooth muscle cells to the very tip of the epithelial branches, suggesting an important role for these cells in branching morphogenesis.”

Al Alam and her team are continuing to investigate this topic to determine the specific roles of smooth muscle cells and nerve cells and their interactions in proper lung development.

Images courtesy of Denise Al Alam, PhD, and Esteban Fernandez, PhD, The Saban Research Institute , CHLA.

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Purple haze, all in my lung

A variety of signaling molecules control the branching program by which the lung grows and develops. In this image we see the beginning of normal branching that occurs at budding points of the lung known as epithelial tips. Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles are interested in the role of SERCA, a protein that controls calcium transport in cells, in regulating branching during lung development. Here, they used a technique known as confocal microscopy to generate this 3D image of the lung epithelial tip of a mouse embryo in its healthy state. When researchers compared this to an epithelial tip in which SERCA was inhibited, branching was significantly reduced, indicating SERCA plays an important role in normal lung development.

Image Courtesy of Sonia Navarro, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

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Scientists Use Stem Cells to Grow Three-Dimensional Mini Lungs.

Scientists Use Stem Cells to Grow Three-Dimensional Mini Lungs.

In research done in several laboratories, lung tissue was derived from flat cell culture systems or by growing cells on scaffolds made from donated organs.

Now in a new study published in the online journal eLife, a multi-institution team has defined a culture system for generating self-organizing human lung organoids, which are three-dimensional structures that mimic the structure and complexity…

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Make Lungs

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Make Lungs

Since my father died of disseminated lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma), this report has particular meaning to me.

When a person dies, their lungs can be harvested and stripped of their cells. This leaves a so-called “lung scaffold” that can then be used to build new lungs by means of tissue engineering techniques. Lung scaffolds consist of a protein called collagen, and sugar-rich proteins…

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The Dreadful Amniocentesis Results

Eager to attain a restful nights of sleep and reduce the panic from within I got into bed early, as I knew I would be required to awake much earlier so to get to my appointment on time. The attempt, while in good faith, failed miserably. I lay on my pillow and sought comfort, nonetheless I found it quite arduous to pull the nightmarish horror stories of the procedure I was to have in mere hours from my mind — even then I knew I couldn’t disregard the risks. As each minute passed, much to my demise, I found myself treading deeper; drenched in fear of the possibilities, risks, concerns, and horrendous pessimistic ‘what-ifs’. Internally I knew that somehow I had to diffuse the dangerous deliberations so to salvage as much rest as I could before the sounding of the alarm clock. With each hour more solemn than the previous, I finally drifted to sleep sometime after midnight; despite getting into bed much before.

As I took the first step into my physicians office, my mind was a jumped ball of emotions; the pessimist from within was controlling, I knew at any time I could opt out of the test and cite the risk facts as justification. I was very scared, in fact I was unsure the proper decision for the life within my womb. As the only patient in the office, at an hour so early, the nurses recognized the fear my facial expressions conveyed; before the chance to have a seat I was called back, the nurse whispered “don’t be scared” as she took my hand. Inside the room I unloaded my mounting fears, tearfully, both hands on my growing bump feeling a very active bean. Typically, each morning my little acrobat does his warming up for the day ahead; the feelings of life moving within the womb I cannot begin to describe or for that matter get used to.

Much to my surprise the nurse’s compassionate tone begin to ease my mind and before I knew it my appointment was beginning without much more thought. Seemingly like clockwork at the time I would have been waking up; my little one started to wiggle, twinge, and kick softly. The nurse had spoken to me for nearly an hour as we waited the obstetrician’s arrival. It was at that moment my angel provided me with the reassurance I needed to discern the choice I was making was the best choice for the health of my bean. The health care providers took their place in my room after the initial requirements had been taken, I voiced several time to the physician that the baby was quite active. My doctor laughed with me about my little acrobat, before going over each detail of the amniocentesis ahead. I felt comfortable knowing that each second of the test would have the baby’s placement monitored by a device much like an ultrasound so the exact placement would be known.

Oddly, the test wasn’t nearly what I expected; in fact it wasn’t bad at all. My little one stopped moving putting my mind at more ease; I could view the baby on the monitor as well and clearly see the extraction of fluid – I’m the type that desires to watch every second. While it stung the test was over in less than a minute; I hardly felt anything and most importantly baby bean didn’t even know we were there. Once completed I was required to lay flat and wear a Doppler so the heart rate could be monitored, reminding me once again of the risks of the test. The doctor came in before I left to share results of lung maturity; other results would be back at my next appointment. It was no real shock to me at my gestational age to know that my baby’s lungs at this time are still underdeveloped, yet normal for gestation. The doctor thinks it is best to begin steroid injections while lung development is occurring at this peak of rapid development.

I’ll have six injections prior to 34-weeks; I believe four of one medication and two of another; both steroids. The first injection will be gave to me in a few days, giving me time to research; with my illness I am no stranger to steroids. The baby and I both are measuring about one-week ahead of the scale used in comparison to the due date of March 4, 2011, this doesn’t always mean I’m a week ahead of what they had first thought and probably doesn’t. Little bean weighs nearly four-pounds; my baby is almost at the same weight I was when I was born. Early induction, however, is still necessary in relation to other aspects where my chronic illness is plaguing my own health. However, I am determined to reach full gestation and go into labor naturally.