Review Question - QID 211098

A 52-year-old man presents to the his primary care physician complaining of an ongoing cough. He reports that the cough started 1 year ago after a “bad cold” and then never resolved. He feels the cough is getting worse, sometimes the cough is dry, but often the cough will bring up a clear to white mucus, especially in the morning. The patient has hypertension and peripheral artery disease. He takes aspirin and lisinopril. He started smoking at age 16, and now smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day. He has 1-2 beers a couple nights of the week with dinner. He denies illicit drug use. Which of the following cell types within the respiratory tract is most likely to undergo metaplasia caused by smoking?