# Regulation of Progenitor Cell Plasticity in Lung Development and Disease-Repair

> **NIH NIH R35** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2024 · $1,095,516

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Despite much progress in the field of lung biology and pulmonary medicine, a major gap of knowledge
remains in the lack of a broader understanding of the composition and regulation of the lung stem cell
compartment and its behavior in disease and regeneration-repair. Recent studies bring an additional
complexity to the scenario, as they describe injured lung cells in a plastic intermediate state at the
crossroad between resolution to a normal state and abnormal failed repair of the lung. Little is known
about the origin and regulation of these intermediate cell states and their relationship to the programs
that regulate cell fate decisions in the developing lung. There has been also an increasing need to have
a better understanding of the developmental and repair programs in human lung progenitors, their
impact in perinatal conditions and potential link to adult chronic diseases. Here we propose to address
these gaps of knowledge in this research proposal by: a) exploring new observations that identify a
similar transitional state in developing lung epithelial progenitors, to investigate mechanisms of cell
plasticity that balances the cell fate program of airways and alveoli and prevents aberrant lung growth,
b) investigating the developmental origins of dysanaptic lung growth and its link to COPD by integrating
information from genetic-epidemiologic cohorts with that from organoid and mouse genetic models, c)
investigating the impact of fetal–intrauterine environment in the control of plasticity and maturation of
human neonatal airway progenitor cells. Results from these studies will open new perspectives in our
understanding of the mechanisms of how cell fate decisions are regulated in development and disease-
repair providing insights for future therapeutic interventions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10872135
- **Project number:** 5R35HL166661-02
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Wellington V. Cardoso
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,095,516
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2030-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10872135

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10872135, Regulation of Progenitor Cell Plasticity in Lung Development and Disease-Repair (5R35HL166661-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10872135. Licensed CC0.

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