Lungs are constantly exposed to environmental perturbations and therefore have remarkable capacity to regenerate in response to injury. Sustained lung injuries, aging, and increased genomic instability, however, make lungs particularly susceptible to disrepair and fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis constitutes a major cause of morbidity and is often relentlessly progressive, leading to death from respiratory failure. The pulmonary vasculature, which is critical for gas exchanges and plays a key role during lung development, repair, and regeneration, becomes aberrantly remodeled in patients with progressive pulmonary fibrosis. Although capillary rarefaction and increased vascular permeability are recognized as distinctive features of fibrotic lungs, the role of vasculature dysfunction in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis has only recently emerged as an important contributor to the progression of this disease. This review summarizes current findings related to lung vascular repair and regeneration and provides recent insights into the vascular abnormalities associated with the development of persistent lung fibrosis.
Keywords: endothelial heterogeneity; lung regeneration; lung repair; pulmonary fibrosis; pulmonary vasculature.