Researchers have built a “cell atlas” that shows all the cellular changes that happen during the last stages of lung development. Many premature babies are born before this stage is complete and, as a result, they develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) caused by the high levels of oxygen they need while their lungs finish developing. Using a cutting-edge technique called single-cell RNA sequencing, they captured what certain cells were doing during normal and impaired development. This “cell atlas” allowed them to identify the most important cell subpopulations and molecular pathways responsible for impaired late lung development caused by exposure to high levels of oxygen. These cell populations and pathways could provide future treatment targets for BPD. The findings were published in March in Nature Communications.
