Impairment of rat postnatal lung alveolar development by glucocorticoids: involvement of the p21CIP1 and p27KIP1 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors.

It has been shown that glucocorticoids accelerate lung development by limiting alveolar formation resulting from a premature maturation of the alveolar septa. Based on these data, the aim of the present work was to analyze the influence of dexamethasone on cell cycle control mechanisms during postnatal lung development. Cell proliferation is regulated by a network of signaling pathways that converge to the key regulator of cell cycle machinery: the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) system.