"Our ability to identify the stem cells and their regenerative ability has implications for the possible identification of novel therapeutic targets for airway diseases and potential cell-based therapies in the future," the study states.

The stem cells also may play a role in tumor initiation in lung cancer when the repair goes awry, although further study is needed to confirm this, said Gomperts, who is also a member of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.


This study was funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, American Thoracic Society/COPD Foundation, the Concern Foundation, UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center's Thoracic Oncology Program and Specialized Program of Research Excellence in lung cancer, the University of California Cancer Research Coordinating Committee and the Gwynne Hazen Cherry Memorial Laboratories.

The stem cell center was launched in 2005 with a UCLA commitment of $20 million over five years. A $20 million gift from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation in 2007 resulted in the renaming of the center. With more than 200 members, the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research is committed to a multi-disciplinary, integrated collaboration of scientific, academic and medical disciplines for the purpose of understanding adult and human embryonic stem cells. The center supports innovation, excellence and the highest ethical standards focused on stem cell research with the intent of facilitating basic scientific inquiry directed towards future clinical applications to treat disease. The center is a collaboration of the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and the UCLA College of Letters and Science. To learn more about the center, visit our web site at http://www.stemcell.ucla.edu.

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