Know Thy Neighbour: The Building of a Functional Lung

Lung development follows a stereotypic program orchestrated by key interactions among epithelial and mesenchymal tissues. Deviations from this developmental program can lead to pulmonary diseases, including bronchopulmonary dysplasia and pulmonary hypertension. Intimate crosstalk, involving multiple signalling pathways, has been identified between the epithelium and mesenchyme, distinct mesenchymal tissues, and individual epithelial cells types. In this talk, I will discuss the tissue interactions and molecular crosstalk that underlie the stereotypic patterning of the developing lung and mediate injury repair.