Weill Cornell Medicine
Genetic Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine

Human Airway Epithelial Biology

Urine Continine Levels Over 1 Year
Image: Analysis of the transcriptome of epithelial cells taken from active smokers, non-smokers, and smoking quitters shows that expression patterns of many genes, but not all genes, normalizes within 12 months (Strulovici-Barel et al., 2023)
Human Airway Epithelial Biology
Image: A fully differentiated airway epithelium can be grown in the lab starting with airway basal cells. The differentiated epithelia maintain some of the characteristics of disease or condition experienced by the basal cell donor.
Human airway epithelial tissue co-stained for 3 markers of airway club cells
Image: Human airway epithelial tissue co-stained for 3 markers of airway club cells that are specialized to defend the airway against dangerous biologic and chemical agents (Rostami et al., 2023)

Areas of Investigation

  • Effect of cigarette, e-cigarette, and waterpipe (hookah) smoking on small airway epithelial gene expression 
  • Changes in small airway epithelial gene expression and bronchoalveolar cell gene expression during chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or interstitial lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP), systemic scleroderma, or chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (CHP) 
  • Effect of viral infection on the airway epithelium 

Research Questions

  • Do basal cells from healthy subjects or individuals with lung disease have different patterns of gene expression that lead to the development of dysfunctional airway epithelia?
  • Can the characteristics of diseased airways be modeled in the lab?
  • Can we identify therapeutic targets for airway diseases based on evalution of gene expression?

Recent News

  • DGM awarded NIH R01 grant to study differentiation of basal cells isolated from patients with COPD (May 2023)

Recent Publications

  • Strulovici-Barel, Y., Rostami, M. R., Kaner, R. J., Mezey, J. G., & Crystal, R. G. (2023). Serial Sampling of the Small Airway Epithelium to Identify Persistent Smoking-dysregulated Genes. Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 208(7), 780-790. doi:10.1164/rccm.202204-0786OC 
  • Strulovici-Barel, Y., Kaner, R. J., & Crystal, R. G. (2023). High apoptotic endothelial microparticle levels measured in asthma with elevated IgE and eosinophils. Respiratory Research, 24(1), 180. doi:10.1186/s12931-023-02470-x
  • Rostami, M. R., LeBlanc, M. G., Strulovici-Barel, Y., Zuo, W., Mezey, J. G., O'Beirne, S. L., Kaner, R. J., Leopold, P. L., & Crystal, R. G. (2021). Smoking shifts human small airway epithelium club cells toward a lesser differentiated population. NPJ Genom Med, 6(1), 73. doi:10.1038/s41525-021-00237-1
  • Zhang, H., Rostami, M. R., Leopold, P. L., Mezey, J. G., O’Beirne, S. L., Strulovici-Barel, Y., & Crystal, R. G. (2020). Expression of the SARS-CoV-2 ACE2 Receptor in the Human Airway Epithelium. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 202(2), 219-229. doi:10.1164/rccm.202003-0541OC
Back to Top