ArticleDevelopmental cell2020
Smooth Muscle Differentiation Is Essential for Airway Size, Tracheal Cartilage Segmentation, but Dispensable for Epithelial Branching.
Article in Developmental cell, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- A biohybrid system to reconstruct epithelial morphomechanicsMaterials today. Bio · 2026Article
- Defining subcellular synovial responses in TMJ osteoarthritis onset via mechanical stress and articular disk derangement models.International journal of oral science · 2026Article
- Membrane Tension Integrates Physical and Signaling Cues to Gate Cell Fate Transitions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- 4D bioprinted self-folding scaffolds enhance cartilage formation in the engineering of trachea.Advanced materials technologies · 2025Article
- CPLANE protein INTU regulates growth and patterning of the mouse lungs through cilia-dependent Hh signaling.Developmental biology · 2024Article
- The T-Type Calcium Channel CACNA1H is Required for Smooth Muscle Cytoskeletal Organization During Tracheal Tubulogenesis.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Mesenchymal Vangl1 and Vangl2 facilitate airway elongation and widening independently of the planar cell polarity complex.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Article
- Zedoarondiol inhibits human bronchial smooth muscle cell proliferation through the CAV-1/PDGF signalling pathway.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Defective mesenchymal Bmpr1a-mediated BMP signaling causes congenital pulmonary cysts.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Spatially coordinated cell cycle activity and motility govern bifurcation of mammary branches.The Journal of cell biology · 2023Article
- Bronchial epithelial and airway smooth muscle cell interactions in health and disease.Heliyon · 2023Review
- The lung mesenchyme in development, regeneration, and fibrosis.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2023Review
- Analysis of Cre lines for targeting embryonic airway smooth muscle.Developmental biology · 2023Article
- Plasticity in airway smooth muscle differentiation during mouse lung development.Developmental cell · 2023Article
- Myocd regulates airway smooth muscle cell remodeling in response to chronic asthmatic injury.The Journal of pathology · 2023Article
- Anti-asthmatic miR-224-5p inhibits the FHL1/MAPK pathway to repress airway smooth muscle cell proliferation in a murine model of asthma-like airway inflammation.Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology : official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2022Article
- Patterning the embryonic pulmonary mesenchyme.iScience · 2022Article
- BMP4 and Wnt signaling interact to promote mouse tracheal mesenchyme morphogenesis.American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology · 2022Article
- Transmural pressure signals through retinoic acid to regulate lung branching.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Airway smooth muscle is best known for its role as an airway constrictor in diseases such as asthma. However, its function in lung development is debated. A prevalent model, supported by in vitro data, posits that airway smooth muscle promotes lung branching through peristalsis and pushing intraluminal fluid to branching tips. Here, we test this model in vivo by inactivating Myocardin, which prevented airway smooth muscle differentiation. We found that Myocardin mutants show normal branching, despite the absence of peristalsis. In contrast, tracheal cartilage, vasculature, and neural innervation patterns were all disrupted. Furthermore, airway diameter is reduced in the mutant, counter to the expectation that the absence of smooth muscle constriction would lead to a more relaxed and thereby wider airway. These findings together demonstrate that during development, while airway smooth muscle is dispensable for epithelial branching, it is integral for building the tracheal architecture and promoting airway growth.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.