Epithelial stem and progenitor cells of the upper airway

Abstract

The upper airway acts as a conduit for the passage of air to the respiratory system and is implicated in several chronic diseases. Whilst the cell biology of the distal respiratory system has been described in great detail, less is known about the proximal upper airway. In this review, we describe the relevant anatomy of the upper airway and discuss the literature detailing the identification and roles of the progenitor cells of these regions.

Keywords: Airway stem cells; Laryngeal stem cells; Lung stem cells; Nasal stem cells; Stem cells.