Every breath depends on the delicate air sacs of the lungs—the alveoli—where oxygen enters the bloodstream. These sacs are lined by two cell types: flat alveolar type 1 (AT1) cells that exchange gases, and cuboidal alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells that both secrete surfactant to keep lungs open and act as stem-like cells for regeneration.

When the lungs are injured by infection, smoke, or chronic disease, AT2 cells must switch into a repair mode and replace damaged AT1 cells. But during infection, they also mount immune defenses. Understanding how these competing roles are balanced has long been a mystery.

Mapping how lung stem cells “decide”

In their new study published in Nature Communications , Douglas Brownfield, PhD, and colleagues at Mayo Clinic used single-cell sequencing, advance

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