Lung Stem Cells in the Epithelium and Vasculature

Amy Firth, Ph.D. received both her M.Sc. in Pharmacology and her Ph.D. in Pulmonary Physiology and Ion Channel Regulation at University of Bath, UK. For two years, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC San Diego where she studied the pathogenic mechanisms contributing to Pulmonary Hypertension. For this work she was a finalist in the American Heart Association’s Cournand and Comroe Young Investigator Award. She is currently a Research Associate at The Salk Institute where her research focuses on generating iPSCs from somatic cells of patients with various diseases, primarily respiratory. By differentiating these cells she is able to study the pathogenic mechanisms of a variety of lung diseases. She is a member of several international societies including International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the American Physiological Society and the American Thoracic Society.Jason X.-J. Yuan, M.D., Ph.D., received his M.D. at Suzhuo Medical College in China and his Ph.D. from Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing through a joint training program with the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He is currently Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology; Director, Pulmonary Research Program for Personalized Respiratory Medicine; and Director, Program in Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Right Heart Function Center for Cardiovascular Research at the College of Medicine at University of Illinois - Chicago. His lab focuses on studying pulmonary vascular physiology and pathophysiology, ion channel electrophysiology and pathogenic mechanisms of pulmonary vascular disease. He is particularly interested in the pathogenic role of stem/progenitor cells in pulmonary vascular disease. In addition he is currently Editor-in-Chief for Pulmonary Circulation and Chair of the Pulmonary Circulation Assembly of the American Thoracic Society.

Preface.- Part I: Airway Stem Cell.- Does a Lung Stem Cell Exist?.- Type II Cells as Progenitors in Alveolar Repair.- Stem Cell Niches in the Lung.- Bronchioalveolar Stem Cells in Cancer.- Role of Progenitor Cells Pulmonary Fibrosis and Asthma.- Challenges of Cell Therapy for Lung Disease.- The hope for iPSC in Lung Stem Cell Therapy and Disease Modeling.- Ex Vivo Lung Bioengineering .- Part II: Pulmonary Vasculature Stem Cells.- Endothelial Colony Forming Cells in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.- Mesothelial Progenitors in Development, Lung Homeostasis and Tissue Repair.- Resident Stem Cells in Epithelial and Vascular Tree Remodel-ing.- Lung microvascular endothelium as a putative progenitor cell niche.- Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Hypoxia Induced Pulmonary Hypertension.- Circulating Fibrocytes in Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling.- The Role of Stem Cells in Vascular Remodeling in CTEPH.- Pulmonary Hypertension: A Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis.- Vascular Repair by Endothelial ProgenitorCells.- Modelling PAH with iPSC derived Mesenchymal and Endothelial Cells.- Index.

"The purpose is to present the latest information and address new research directions and potential clinical applications in the field of lung stem cell biology. The audience includes scientists working in industry and academia, physicians and other healthcare professionals, and students of biomedical sciences interested in the field of lung stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. ... This is a good overview of the directions and challenges in this quickly evolving field." (Joanna Goral, Doody's Book Reviews, January 2016)