The role of Sox2 on lung epithelial airway epithelial differentiation

Abstract

The foregut is crucial for development of respiratory organs including the lungs. Foregut morphogenesis starts around embryonic day 8.0 in mouse when the endoderm epithelial sheet folds ventrally during gastrulation [1,2]. At embryonic day 9.0, the ventral folding is accompanied by a process in which the rod-like notochord delaminates from the endoderm and becomes closely associated with the neural tube [3]. Signals from the notochord are essential for the dorsal-ventral patterning of the neural tube and its subsequent tissue morphogenesis [4]. Once the foregut tube is formed, it exhibits dorsal-ventral patterning of signaling molecules and transcription factors in both the epithelium and the surrounding mesenchyme which are essential for normal anterior foregut morphogenesis. The dorsal region of the tube results in the oesophagus while the ventral section forms the trachea and lung buds.