Buried myoepithelial stem cells as a reservoir for repairing the exposed airway epithelium

The tracheal epithelium that connects the upper airway to the lung consists of two compartments, the submucosal gland (SMG) and the surface airway epithelium (SAE). Less exposed to environmental hazards, myoepithelial cells (MECs) in SMG represent a stem cell reservoir to repair severely injured surface epithelia (1,2).