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Effect of Mechanical Forces on Surfactant Protein Expression in Alveolar Lung Epithelial Cells
Author(s) -
Kent Melodie Jan Lynettee,
Ghadiali Samir,
Marzillier Jutta,
Perry Susan
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a552-b
Subject(s) - pulmonary surfactant , western blot , cell , microbiology and biotechnology , epithelium , chemistry , lung , surfactant protein c , alveolar epithelium , respiratory epithelium , in vivo , alveolar cells , in vitro , biology , pathology , biochemistry , medicine , gene
Mechanical ventilation of injured lungs involves the reopening of fluid filled airways and the application of mechanical forces to the airway epithelium. These forces may cause cellular deformation, necrosis and modified protein expression. For example, it was recently demonstrated that a mechanically active environment in‐vivo promotes type II cell differentiation, assessed by an increase in SP‐C gene expression. In this study, we utilized an in‐vitro pressure chamber model to investigate the biological response of lung epithelial cells to various static pressure loads. Cells were cultured in a six well plates for several days, exposed to a range of static pressures (0 cm/H2O, (±) 5 cm/H2O, (±) 7.5 cm/H2O and (±) 10 cm/H2O) and harvested for data collection. Standard live/dead techniques were used to quantify cell death and showed a less than 1% occurrence of cell death after pressure treatment. Immunoctyochemisty was used to establish baseline controls for SP‐C protein expression and to visualize protein expression within the cell. Surprisingly, western blot quantification showed a decrease in surfactant protein expression within the cell after pressure treatment. We hypothesize that the cells secreted surfactant protein in response to the applied pressure. Time kinetics and cell fractionation studies will be necessary to further investigate this observation. This work was supported by the American Heat Association and Parker B. Francis Foundation