# Ontogeny and Function of Early-Life Pulmonary Dendritic Cells

> **NIH NIH R21** · FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER · 2024 · $204,543

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Premature birth is a leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, and lung immaturity in these babies
is a major cause. As the organ of gas exchange, efficient lung function is critical for the survival of the
newborn. At birth, premature lungs are in the saccular developmental stage, an immature state compared to
the mature adult lungs. These immature lungs are first exposed to airborne material and microbes at birth, and
thus need to be poised for defense. Dendritic cells (DC) play a key role in this barrier defense and initiating
immunity, however, our understanding of DCs in these immature lungs is limited. My investigations into
newborn lungs have revealed previously unknown phenotypic heterogeneity within the early-life DC
compartment. Furthermore, these newborn lung DC subsets are transcriptionally distinct from their
counterparts in later neonatal stages. Together our data support the idea that the DC compartment in saccular
stage lungs is phenotypically and functionally distinct from the adult. These observations lead to our
hypothesize that newborn lungs contain phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous stage-specific
lung DCs. This hypothesis will be addressed through the following specific aims: Aim1: interrogate the
ontogeny of saccular stage lung DCs, and Aim 2: Determine the functions of saccular stage DCs. Both of these
aims will be performed in comparison to other lung development stages, including mature lungs. These aims
will elucidate the saccular stage DC compartment in terms of ontogeny and function, and will reveal its
significance in neonatal lung inflammation. The proposed research will be the first comprehensive analysis of
the lung DC compartment at birth and its role in inflammation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10783817
- **Project number:** 5R21AI173825-02
- **Recipient organization:** FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Mark Bryan Headley
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $204,543
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-02-10 → 2025-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10783817

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10783817, Ontogeny and Function of Early-Life Pulmonary Dendritic Cells (5R21AI173825-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10783817. Licensed CC0.

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