2. Academic Validation
  3. Airway secretory cell fate conversion via YAP-mTORC1-dependent essential amino acid metabolism

Airway secretory cell fate conversion via YAP-mTORC1-dependent essential amino acid metabolism

  • EMBO J. 2022 Apr 19;41(8):e109365. doi: 10.15252/embj.2021109365.
Hae Yon Jeon  # 1,  Jinwook Choi  # 2,  Lianne Kraaier 2 3,  Young Hoon Kim 1,  David Eisenbarth 1,  Kijong Yi 4 5,  Ju-Gyeong Kang 1,  Jin Woo Kim 1,  Hyo Sup Shim 6,  Joo-Hyeon Lee 2 7,  Dae-Sik Lim 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Biological Sciences, National Creative Research Center for Cell Plasticity, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea.
  • 2 Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre, Wellcome - MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
  • 3 Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
  • 4 Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea.
  • 5 GenomeInsight Inc., Daejeon, South Korea.
  • 6 Department of Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
  • 7 Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 35285539 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2021109365
Abstract

Tissue homeostasis requires lineage fidelity of stem cells. Dysregulation of cell fate specification and differentiation leads to various diseases, yet the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing these processes remain elusive. We demonstrate that YAP/TAZ activation reprograms airway secretory cells, which subsequently lose their cellular identity and acquire squamous alveolar type 1 (AT1) fate in the lung. This cell fate conversion is mediated via distinctive transitional cell states of damage-associated transient progenitors (DATPs), recently shown to emerge during injury repair in mouse and human lungs. We further describe a YAP/TAZ signaling cascade to be integral for the fate conversion of secretory cells into AT1 fate, by modulating mTORC1/ATF4-mediated amino acid metabolism in vivo. Importantly, we observed aberrant activation of the YAP/TAZ-mTORC1-ATF4 axis in the altered airway epithelium of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, including substantial emergence of DATPs and AT1 cells with severe pulmonary fibrosis. Genetic and pharmacologic inhibition of mTORC1 activity suppresses lineage alteration and subepithelial fibrosis driven by YAP/TAZ activation, proposing a potential therapeutic target for human fibrotic lung diseases.

Keywords

Damage-Associated Transient Progenitors; Hippo-YAP signaling; essential amino acid metabolism; mTORC1-ATF4 axis; pulmonary fibrosis and bronchiolitis obliterans.

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