Flow-Cytometric Analysis and Purification of Airway Epithelial-Cell Subsets
Luke R. Bonser, Kyung Duk Koh, Kristina Johansson, Semil P. Choksi, Dan Cheng, Leqian Liu, Dingyuan I. Sun, Lorna Zlock, Walter L. Eckalbar, Walter E. Finkbeiner, David J. Erle
Abstract
The human airway epithelium is essential in homeostasis, and epithelial dysfunction contributes to chronic airway disease. Development of flow-cytometric methods to characterize subsets of airway epithelial cells will enable further dissection of airway epithelial biology. Leveraging single-cell RNA-sequencing data in combination with known cell type-specific markers, we developed panels of antibodies to characterize and isolate the major airway epithelial subsets (basal, ciliated, and secretory cells) from human bronchial epithelial-cell cultures. We also identified molecularly distinct subpopulations of secretory cells and demonstrated cell subset-specific expression of low-abundance transcripts and microRNAs that are challenging to analyze with current single-cell RNA-sequencing methods. These new tools will be valuable for analyzing and separating airway epithelial subsets and interrogating airway epithelial biology.