Dex supplementation protects human lung tissue during cold storage. Lung tissues from patients were cut into 3 pieces, 2 pieces were stored in a 4 °C UW solution saturated with Dex (0.1 nM) or PBS (Ve) for 16 h (CI16h) separately; another piece served as the naive control (NC). (A) Histology (H&E staining) of the lung tissue. (B) Lung morphology was evaluated using a lung injury scoring system. (C) Lung tissue cell death was detected by in situ TUNEL assay. (D) The number of TUNEL+ cells. Labelling of (E) p-MLKL (red) and fluorescent intensity of (F) p-MLKL in lung tissue. Nuclei were counterstained with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) (blue) or To-pro (red). Scale bar: 50 μm. Data are presented as scatter plots and expressed median with interquartile range. n = 10. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ****p < 0.0001. Transmission electron microscopy was performed on lung samples from patients No. 1, 3, and 6; (G) type II epithelial cells and (H) endothelial cells were observed. Asterisk: chromatin condensation; P: phagosome; LB: lamellar body; M: mitochondrial.