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Roth, D. ; Sahin, A.T. ; Ling, F. ; Tepho, N. ; Senger, C.N.* ; Quiroz, E.J.* ; Calvert, B.A.* ; van der Does, A.M.* ; Güney, T.G. ; Glasl, S. ; van Schadewijk, A.* ; von Schledorn, L.* ; Olmer, R.* ; Kanso, E.* ; Nawroth, J. ; Ryan, A.L.*

Structure and function relationships of mucociliary clearance in human and rat airways.

Nat. Commun. 16:2446 (2025)
Publ. Version/Full Text Research data DOI PMC
Open Access Gold
Creative Commons Lizenzvertrag
Mucociliary clearance is a vital defense mechanism of the human airways, protecting against harmful particles and infections. When this process fails, it contributes to respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. While advances in single-cell transcriptomics have revealed the complexity of airway composition, much of what we know about how airway structure impacts clearance relies on animal studies. This limits our ability to create accurate human-based models of airway diseases. Here we show that the airways in female rats and in humans exhibit species-specific differences in the distribution of ciliated and secretory cells as well as in ciliary beat, resulting in significantly higher clearance effectiveness in humans. We further reveal that standard lab-grown cultures exhibit lower clearance effectiveness compared to human airways, and we identify the underlying structural differences. By combining diverse experiments and physics-based modeling, we establish universal benchmarks to assess human airway function, interpret preclinical models, and better understand disease-specific impairments in mucociliary clearance.
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Ciliary Beat Frequency; Cells; Pattern; Differentiation; Architecture; Transport; Platform; Cultures; Number
ISSN (print) / ISBN 2041-1723
e-ISSN 2041-1723
Journal Nature Communications
Quellenangaben Volume: 16, Issue: 1, Pages: , Article Number: 2446 Supplement: ,
Publisher Nature Publishing Group
Publishing Place London
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Helmholtz Pioneer Campus (HPC)
Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI)
Grants German Center for Lung research (DZL)
Technical University Munich (TUM)
European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
European Research Council (ERC)
Hastings Foundation
National Institute of Health: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH:NHLBI)