Exogenous mesenchymal stem cells affect the function of endogenous lung stem cells (club cells) in phosgene-induced lung injury.

Exogenous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) affect lung cells via cytokines as well as vesicles and activate the Notch signaling pathway thus affecting the proliferation of endogenous stem cells to repair damaged tissue. Club cells are endogenous lung stem cells whose proliferation is also closely related to the Notch signaling pathway. The club cell secretory protein (CCSP) has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. This study aimed to investigate whether exogenous MSCs affect the function of club cells in an injured lung and whether these effects are related to the Notch signaling pathway. CCSP levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the average fluorescence intensity (AFI) of CCSP in club cells was determined using flow cytometry. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were used to visualize club cells and proliferative club cells. The expression of important Notch signaling pathway components including Notch1∼4, c-myc, Hey1 and Hes1 were also assessed. LY3039478 (LY), a specific inhibitor of the Notch signaling pathway, was applied. After MSCs intervention, CCSP levels decreased, and club cell AFI increased, indicating that the secretion of club cells had weakened. The expression of Notch1, Notch2, c-myc, Hey1, Hes1 increased, accompanied by an increase in the number of proliferative club cells. Furthermore, MSCs enhanced the proliferation of club cells, while LY suppressed this phenomenon. In summary, MSCs reduced the secretion of club cells. And MSCs enhanced the proliferation of club cells partly via activating the Notch signaling pathway, which promoted lung injury repair.