New R01 for Nia and Mizgerd to study alveolar mosaicism
Based on studies visualizing aerosol deposition in functioning lungs with the crystal ribcage, Drs. Nia and Mizgerd hypothesize that lungs contain two functionally distinct types of alveoli, organized into a mosaic architecture, which differentially mediate early responses to inhaled particles. They plan to define the anatomy and physiology of alveolar mosaicism by mapping the spatial relationship between tile alveoli and band alveoli with terminal airways, determining whether alveolar mosaicism drives transcriptional and developmental differences, and evaluating whether injurious aerosols elicit distinct cellular responses in tiles versus bands. These studies, anticipated to establish new concepts of alveolar organization in the functioning lungs, have been funded by the NHLBI (R01 HL185414: Functional Heterogeneity of Alveoli and the Early Response to Airborne Agents, August 2026 through April 2030).