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Epithelial To Mesenchymal Transition (Emt) Induced By Bleomycin Or TfgB1/Egf In Murine Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Alveolar Type Ii-Like Cells, Zaida A. Alipio, Nathan Jones, Wenbin Liao, Jianchang Yang, Shilpa Kulkarni, K. Sree Kumar, Martin Hauer-Jensen, David C. Ward, Yupo Ma, Louis M. Fink

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are derived from reprogrammed somatic cells and are similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells in morphology, gene/protein expression, and pluripotency. In this study, we explored the potential of iPS cells to differentiate into alveolar Type II (ATII)-like epithelial cells. Analysis using quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence staining showed that pulmonary surfactant proteins commonly expressed by ATII cells such as surfactant protein A (SPA), surfactant protein B (SPB), and surfactant protein C (SPC) were unpregulated in the differentiated cells. Microphilopodia characteristics and lamellar bodies were observed by transmission electron microscopy and lipid deposits …