New Cell, Who Dis?

It's never too late to discover something scientifically. The more you know, the more you realize you don't know and is still unknown to you. This time, scientists have discovered a "new" type of cell in the lungs. New only in the sense that we were not aware of its existence so similar to "new" in a new car sense; this is not something that magically appeared or evolved in people.  

What is the newly discovered cell? Well, the researchers at the University of Pennsylvania who discovered it are calling the new cell respiratory airway secretory cells (or RASCs). The cells are found in airway branches deep in the lungs near the alveoli (responsible for air intake - think back to high school biology). RASCs are unlike other cells in the lungs in that they have stem-cell-like properties. Why is that important? Well, because stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can become a cell of any type once signaled to do so and therefore play a core function in the regeneration. So of course, RASCs have a similar regenerative function for alveoli. 

So, what is the significance of this discovery? Of course, the potential to treat illness. The same researchers found evidence that smoking can disrupt the regenerative function of the RASCs, which may be one of the many reasons that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is, well, chronic. Potentially RASCs therapy could be used to help COPD in the same way that stem-cell therapy is used to regenerate nerve cells and tissues.

COPD doesn't sound like a big deal, but in case you were wondering, there are 3 million cases of COPD diagnosed per year in the US, so it is a fairly common disease. COPD is most commonly caused by smoking and/or inhalation of pollutants for prolonged periods of time, but has also been observed to be caused by genetics and childhood asthma. Symptoms of this disease are typically breathlessness, coughing, and wheezing, but can get as extreme as confusion, swelling of the ankles, feet, and legs, and/or fainting. While there are treatment options that range from medication to surgery, there are currently no cures for COPD.

As something that is so prevalent in the American population, the discovery of something that could potentially cure something that was previously thought to be incurable is amazing. Stay curious, you never know what you will find and that's the wonderful thing about research - nothing is 100% certain.