Sorted-cell proteomics reveals an AT1-associated epithelial cornification phenotype and suggests endothelial redox imbalance in human bronchopulmonary dysplasia

2025/11/01 by Mereena George Ushakumary, William B. Chrisler, Gautam Bandyopadhyay +15

paper · doi:10.1152/ajplung.00098.2025

Abstract

The study is the first to perform proteomics on sorted pulmonary epithelial and endothelial populations from bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and age-matched control human donors. We identified an increase in cornification-associated proteins in BPD (e.g., SCEL and LMO7), and evidenced the presence of multilayered structures unique to BPD alveolar regions, associated with alveolar type 1 (AT1) cells. By changing the nature and/or biomechanical properties of the epithelium, these structures may alter the behavior of other alveolar cell types potentially contributing to the arrested alveolarization observed in BPD. Finally, our data suggest the modulation of cell proliferation and redox homeostasis in BPD providing potential mechanisms for the reduced vascular growth associated with BPD.

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