Effects of Myb shRNA on Airway Epithelial Cells

The epithelium of the pulmonary airway is specially differentiated to provide defense against environmental insults, but also subject to dysregulated differentiation that results in lung disease. The current paradigm for airway epithelial differentiation is a one-step program whereby a p63+ basal epithelial progenitor cell generates a ciliated or secretory cell lineage, but the cue for this transition and whether there are intermediate steps is poorly defined. Here we identify transcription factor Myb as a key regulator that permits early multilineage differentiation of airway epithelial cells. Myb+ cells were identified as p63 and therefore distinct from basal progenitor cells, but were still negative for markers of differentiation.

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Pan JH, Adair-Kirk TL, Patel AC, Huang T, Yozamp NS, Xu J, Reddy EP, Byers DE, Pierce RA, Holtzman MJ, Brody SL