Lei Lei, Soumba Traore, Guillermo S Romano Ibarra, Philip H Karp, Tayyab Rehman, David K Meyerholz, Joseph Zabner, David A Stoltz, Patrick L Sinn, Michael J Welsh, Paul B McCray, Ian M Thornell
The volume and composition of a thin layer of liquid covering the airway surface defend the lung from inhaled pathogens and debris. Airway epithelia secrete Cl- into the airway surface liquid through CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) channels, thereby increasing the volume of airway surface liquid. The discovery that pulmonary ionocytes contain high levels of CFTR led us to predict that ionocytes drive secretion. However, we found the opposite. Elevating ionocyte abundance increased liquid absorption, whereas reducing ionocyte abundance increased secretion...
August 15, 2023: Journal of Clinical Investigation