The adult lung maintains tissue integrity through adaptable regenerative programs that rely on the plasticity of epithelial progenitor cells across airway and alveolar compartments. Rather than following a linear stem-cell hierarchy, regeneration is driven by context-dependent lineage behaviors shaped by local signaling pathways, metabolic state, epigenetic regulation, and biophysical cues. Basal cells are the main stem cells of the airway epithelium, whereas alveolar type 2 cells act as the stem cells in the alveoli and regenerate the gas-exchange surface through defined transitional states. These processes are regulated by main signaling networks, including Wnt/
- Tripathy, A.
- Gelincik, G. C.
- Pardo-Saganta, A.
