A composition including adult pluripotent olfactory stem cells is provided. The adult pluripotent olfactory stem cells are obtained by culturing a cell mixture from an olfactory tissue of a mammal in media containing growth factors and then isolating cells which express B-lymphoma moloney murine leukemia virus insertion region-1 (Bmi-1).

A method of generating an induced progenitor population (iPP) of cells and/or induced population of cells from somatic cells, comprising the steps: a) obtaining a starting cell population, wherein cells of the starting cell population comprise, or are contacted with, a nucleic acid molecule encoding four reprogramming factors under the control of a control element, wherein the four reprogramming factors are optionally Oct4, Klf4, Sox2 and c-Myc, and wherein the control element prevents or stops expression of the reprogramming factors under its control in the absence of induction by an inducing agent; and b) transiently inducing expression of the reprogramming factors in the starting cell population to obtain an iPP, c) optionally isolating the iPP, and d) terminating the transient induction while the proliferative capacity of the iPP remains under the control of the one or more exogenous reprogramming factors to produce an induced population of cells.

Various aspects described herein provide methods of generating alveolar or alveolar/airway organoids from a population of lung cells to differentiate into alveolar or alveolar/airway organoids. Also provided herein are methods and compositions for treating lung disease comprising transplantation of the alveolar or alveolar/airway organoids, or a cell isolated therefrom to a subject.

An optimized method based on a dual promoter vector of the reprogramming factors combined with knock-down of the neural silencing complex RESTi to convert adult fibroblasts into induced neurons (iNs). We have also designed and cloned vector constructs of which some include all these components which allows for a one-step method to efficiently reprogram dermal fibroblasts including those obtained from elderly individuals. The single vector system can be used to obtain iNs of high yield and purity from biopsies from aged individuals with a range of familial and sporadic neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's, Huntington's as well as Alzheimer's disease.

Provided herein are methods and compositions for identifying ionocytes from respiratory epithelial cells, and uses of such cells for treatment of inflammatory lung disease. Also provided herein are methods and compositions for modulating respiratory tract epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation, maintenance, and/or function.