#  Lungless Salamanders’ Skin Expresses Protein Crucial for Lung Function 

 





January 30, 2019

 

 

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 Scientists have long assumed that the hundreds of species of salamanders that lack lungs breathe instead through their skin and the lining of the mouth. However, a new study in *[Proceedings of the Royal Society B](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2018.1589)* led by postdoc **Zachary Lewis** (Hanken Lab) and **Prof. Jim Hanken** provides the first concrete evidence for how the lungless salamanders do "breathe".

 The authors, including former Harvard Extension School student Jorge Dorantes, shows that a gene that produces surfactant protein c — a key protein for lung function — is expressed in the skin and mouths of lungless salamanders, suggesting it also plays an important role for cutaneous respiration. [Harvard Gazette](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/01/lungless-salamanders-skin-expresses-protein-crucial-for-lung-function/)

#####  ***Image: [Lungless Salamander by Dave Huth on Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/davemedia/6236957449/in/photolist-ipFCzf-E6fTa-7KgtWC-afXnY7-av93a8)***



 

 

 



 

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