The aging of alveolar stem cells has been linked to many chronic lung diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis. However, the effects of aging on alveolar stem cells during homeostasis and post-injury alveolar repair have not been well characterized. Here we conducted a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of alveolar stem cells of 3-month-old and 12-month-old mice to characterize the aging effect on alveolar stem cells. Our results have shown that the transcriptomes of alveolar stem cells of 3-month-old and 12-month-old mice are not significantly different under the steady condition. However, after a bleomycin-induced lung injury, the alveolar stem cells of 12-month-old mice show enhanced inflammatory responses and decreased lipid metabolism. Our study suggests a close relationship among aging, lipid metabolism, inflammatory responses and chronic lung diseases.
Keywords: aging; inflammation response; lipid metabolism; pulmonary alveolar stem cells; single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq).