A recent study has identified a new lung cell type that is implicated in the body's innate immune defense against the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae--one of the leading causes of pneumonia worldwide. The findings, which were published online on September 18, 2017 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, may lead to new, non-traditional approaches in the fight against pneumonia and chronic lung diseases. The article is titled “Expression of Piwi Protein MIWI2 Defines a Distinct Population of Multiciliated cells.” There are two classifications of cells in the human body: germ cells that are used to make sperm and eggs and somatic cells that make up every other cell in the body including lung cells. There are widespread differences between germ cells and somatic cells underscoring their markedly different roles in human biology. It was previously thought that the MIWI2 gene was only expressed in male germ cells as part of a family of genes that ensure the proper development of sperm. However, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that, not only is the same gene expressed in somatic cells in the body, but it also marks a distinct population of multi-ciliated cells that line the upper airways of the lung. "These ciliated cells have hair-like projections that function to sweep mucus and other foreign material out of the lung. However, what sets this new population of ciliated cells apart is that they express the MIWI2 protein and in this report, were found to have a specialized role in controlling lung infection," explains corresponding author Matthew Jones, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at BUSM.Login Or Register To Read Full Story