The functions of epithelial tissues are dictated by the types, abundance and distribution of the differentiated cells they contain. Attempts to restore tissue function after damage require knowledge of how physiological tasks are distributed among cell types, and how cell states vary between homeostasis, injury-repair and disease. In the conducting airway, a heterogeneous basal cell population gives rise to specialized luminal cells that perform mucociliary clearance. Here we perform single-cell profiling of human bronchial epithelial cells and mouse tracheal epithelial cells to obtain a comprehensive census of cell types in the conducting airway and their behaviour in homeostasis and regeneration. Our analysis reveals cell states that represent known and novel cell populations, delineates their heterogeneity and identifies distinct differentiation trajectories during homeostasis and tissue repair. Finally, we identified a novel, rare cell type that we call the 'pulmonary ionocyte', which co-expresses FOXI1, multiple subunits of the vacuolar-type H-ATPase (V-ATPase) and CFTR, the gene that is mutated in cystic fibrosis. Using immunofluorescence, modulation of signalling pathways and electrophysiology, we show that Notch signalling is necessary and FOXI1 expression is sufficient to drive the production of the pulmonary ionocyte, and that the pulmonary ionocyte is a major source of CFTR activity in the conducting airway epithelium.

The angiogenic growth factor angiopoietin 2 (Ang2) destabilizes blood vessels, enhances vascular leak and induces vascular regression and endothelial cell apoptosis. We considered that Ang2 might be important in hyperoxic acute lung injury (ALI). Here we have characterized the responses in lungs induced by hyperoxia in wild-type and Ang2-/- mice or those given either recombinant Ang2 or short interfering RNA (siRNA) targeted to Ang2. During hyperoxia Ang2 expression is induced in lung epithelial cells, while hyperoxia-induced oxidant injury, cell death, inflammation, permeability alterations and mortality are ameliorated in Ang2-/- and siRNA-treated mice. Hyperoxia induces and activates the extrinsic and mitochondrial cell death pathways and activates initiator and effector caspases through Ang2-dependent pathways in vivo. Ang2 increases inflammation and cell death during hyperoxia in vivo and stimulates epithelial necrosis in hyperoxia in vitro. Ang2 in plasma and alveolar edema fluid is increased in adults with ALI and pulmonary edema. Tracheal Ang2 is also increased in neonates that develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Ang2 is thus a mediator of epithelial necrosis with an important role in hyperoxic ALI and pulmonary edema.

SUMMARY Here, we show that a subset of breast cancers express high levels of the type 2 phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate 4-kinases α and/or β (PI5P4Kα and β) and provide evidence that these kinases are essential for growth in the absence of p53. Knocking down PI5P4Kα and β in a breast cancer cell line bearing an amplification of the gene encoding PI5P4K β and deficient for p53 impaired growth on plastic and in xenografts. This growth phenotype was accompanied by enhanced levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to senescence. Mice with homozygous deletion of both TP53 and PIP4K2B were not viable, indicating a synthetic lethality for loss of these two genes. Importantly however, PIP4K2A−/−, PIP4K2B+/−, and TP53−/− mice were viable and had a dramatic reduction in tumor formation compared to TP53−/− littermates. These results indicate that inhibitors of PI5P4Ks could be effective in preventing or treating cancers with mutations in TP53.

SUMMARY PARK2 is a gene implicated in disease states with opposing responses in cell fate determination, yet its contribution in pro-survival signaling is largely unknown. Here, we show that PARK2 is altered in over a third of all human cancers and its depletion results in enhanced PI3K/Akt activation, and increased vulnerability to PI3K/Akt/mTOR inhibitors. PARK2 depletion contributes to AMPK-mediated activation of eNOS, enhanced levels of reactive oxygen species and a concomitant increase in oxidized nitric oxide levels, thereby promoting inhibition of PTEN by S-nitrosylation and ubiquitination. Notably, AMPK activation alone is sufficient to induce PTEN S-nitrosylation in the absence of PARK2 depletion. Park2 and Pten loss also display striking cooperativity to promote tumorigenesis in vivo. Together, our findings reveal an important missing mechanism that might account for PTEN suppression in PARK2-deficient tumors and highlight the importance of PTEN S-nitrosylation in supporting cell survival and proliferation under conditions of energy deprivation.

VEGF, nitric oxide (NO), inflammation, and vascular-and extravascular remodeling coexist in asthma and other disorders. In these responses, VEGF regulates angiogenesis. VEGF also induces inflammation and remodeling. The mechanisms of the latter responses have not been defined, however. We hypothesized that VEGFinduces extravascular tissue responses via NO-dependent mechanisms. To evaluate this hypothesis, we compared the effects of transgenic VEGF 165 in lungs from normal mice, mice treated with pan-NO synthase (NOS) or endothelial NOS (eNOS) inhibitors, and mice with null mutations of inducible NOS (iNOS) or eNOS. These studies demonstrate that VEGF selectively stimulates eNOS and iNOS. They also demonstrate that VEGF induces pulmonary alterations via NO-dependent and -independent mechanisms with angiogenesis, edema, mucus metaplasia, airway hyperresponsiveness, lymphocyte accumulation, dendritic cell hyperplasia and S-nitrosoglutathione reductase stimulation being NO-dependent and dendritic cell activation being NO-independent. Furthermore, they demonstrate that eNOS and iNOS both contribute to these responses. NO͞NOS-based interventions may be therapeutic in VEGF-driven inflammation and remodeling.

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We noted a marked increase in cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox2) and the activation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway in newborn murine lung on exposure to hyperoxia and IFN-g.We soughtto evaluate Cox2-mediated ER stress pathway activation in hyperoxia-induced and IFN-g-mediated injury in developing lungs. We applied in vivo genetic gain-of-function and genetic/chemical inhibition, as well as in vitro lossof-function genetic strategies. Hyperoxia-induced and IFN-g-mediated impaired alveolarization was rescued by Cox2 inhibition, using celecoxib. The use of small interfering RNA against the ER stress pathway mediator, the C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP; also known as growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible gene 153/GADD153), alleviated cell death in alveolar epithelial cells as well as in hyperoxia-induced and IFNg-mediated murine models of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). In addition, CHOP siRNA also restored alveolarization in the in vivo models. Furthermore, as evidence of clinical relevance, we show increased concentrations of Cox2 and ER stress pathway mediators in human lungs with BPD. Cox2, via CHOP, may significantly contribute to the final common pathway of hyperoxia-induced and IFN-g-mediated injury in developing lungs and human BPD.Keywords: newborn; oxygen; BPD; CHOP; cell deathIn the developing lung, injury attributable to hyperoxic exposure is an important component in the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) (1, 2). The immature human lung during the saccular phase is most commonly exposed to such an exogenous insult, and is predisposed to BPD. The final result is a lung phenotype characterized by fewer and larger simplified alveoli (1-4). Hyperoxia-induced lung injury is characterized by an influx of inflammatory cells, along with endothelial and epithelial cell death (5, 6).Cell death is said to be a key initiator of the process of alveolar simplification. The activation of key caspases (3,8,9) and components of the extrinsic/death receptor and intrinsic/ mitochondrial cell death pathways underlies the molecular mechanisms of cell death (5-7). Another cell-death signaling pathway involves the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which is the site for the folding and assembly of proteins destined for delivery to the extracellular space, plasma membrane, and the exocytic/endocytic compartments (8, 9). When cells are exposed to ER stress, malfolded or unfolded proteins accumulate in the ER lumen, giving rise to a synonymous term, the unfolded protein response (UPR) (8, 9). ER stress is sensed by three ER-resident transmembrane proteins, specifically, inositol-requiring enzyme-1 a (IRE-a), activating transcription factor-6a (ATF6a), and protein kinase regulated by RNA-like ER kinase (PERK), which are freed from binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP; also known as glucoseregulated protein-78, or GRP78) during ER stress (10). Whereas ER stress-induced cell death signaling can occur via multiple pathways, the pathway (i.e., via PERK) that induces transcription of the proapoptotic factor C/EBP homol...

Type 2 phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate 4-kinase (PI5P4K) converts phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate to phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate. Mammals have three enzymes PI5P4Kα, PI5P4Kβ, and PI5P4Kγ, and these enzymes have been implicated in metabolic control, growth control, and a variety of stress responses. Here, we show that mice with germline deletion of type 2 phosphatidylinositol-5-phosphate 4-kinase gamma (Pip4k2c), the gene encoding PI5P4Kγ, appear normal in regard to growth and viability but have increased inflammation and T-cell activation as they age. Immune cell infiltrates increased in Pip4k2c −/− mouse tissues. Also, there was an increase in proinflammatory cytokines, including IFNγ, interleukin 12, and interleukin 2 in plasma of Pip4k2c −/− mice. Pip4k2c −/− mice had an increase in T-helper-cell populations and a decrease in regulatory T-cell populations with increased proliferation of T cells. Interestingly, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling was hyperactivated in several tissues from Pip4k2c −/− mice and treating Pip4k2c−/− mice with rapamycin reduced the inflammatory phenotype, resulting in a decrease in mTORC1 signaling in tissues and a decrease in proinflammatory cytokines in plasma. These results indicate that PI5P4Kγ plays a role in the regulation of the immune system via mTORC1 signaling.