Airway hillocks are injury-resistant reservoirs of unique plastic stem cells. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38693267/)

These scientists were curious about a part of our body called the airway hillocks, which are special structures made of layers of cells that we didn't know much about before. These hillocks have a unique group of cells at the bottom that are like the bosses of the other cells, always working hard to keep our airways healthy and protected.

The scientists found that these special cells in the hillocks can grow really fast and repair any damage that might happen in our airways. They also discovered that when we don't get enough vitamin A in our diet, these hillocks can expand too much and cause a condition called squamous metaplasia, which can be a sign of lung problems.

By studying both mice and human cells in the lab, the scientists were able to learn a lot about how these hillocks work and how they can be important for keeping our airways healthy. This research is helping us understand more about how our bodies heal and how we can keep our lungs strong and protected.

Lin B., Shah VS., Chernoff C., Sun J., Shipkovenska GG., Vinarsky V., Waghray A., Xu J., Leduc AD., Hintschich CA., Surve MV., Xu Y., Capen DE., Villoria J., Dou Z., Hariri LP., Rajagopal J. Airway hillocks are injury-resistant reservoirs of unique plastic stem cells. Nature. 2024 May;629(8013):869-877. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07377-1. Epub 2024 May 1.