Medical Xpress - latest medical and health news stories
Fetal signaling pathways may offer future targets for treating lung injury
Mon, 18 Feb 2019 15:00:05 EST
Specialized lung cells appear in the developing fetus much earlier than scientists previously thought. A new animal study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports how cells that become alveoli, the tiny compartments in which gas exchange occurs in the lung, begin their specialized roles very early in prenatal life. The researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) say that investigating the fetal signaling pathways active in this biological event may offer future opportunities to treat lung damage caused by prematurity and other lung injuries.
