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The Effects Of Palmitic Acid Concentrations On A549 Cellular Incorporation And Cellular Function
Author(s) -
Benghuzzi Ham A,
Tucci Michelle A,
Cameron Joseph A
Publication year - 2009
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.23.1_supplement.739.2
Subject(s) - palmitic acid , pulmonary surfactant , incubation , a549 cell , andrology , cell , chemistry , cytoplasm , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , biochemistry , medicine , fatty acid
Neonates exhibit a high risk of developing acute and/or chronic lung disorder, often associated with surfactant deficiency. Alveolar type II cells (A549) synthesize dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine as the main surfactant. The objective of our study was to administer palmitic acid (PA) to A549 cells and determine the level of cellular viability, cellular damage, cellular morphology, and degree of surfactant production at 24, 48 and 72 hours of incubation. The results of our study show incorporation of 3H‐palmitic was approximately 96% after 24 hours. Our results also demonstrated concentrations of 0.01 M and 0.1 M PA caused marked dose dependent reductions in cell number as early as 24 hours. Markers of membrane cellular damage also were elevated in all treatment groups after 24 hours and remained elevated for the duration of the study. Cellular morphology revealed cells treated with PA initially appeared in clusters, with hyperchromatic nuclei compared with control. No differences in nuclear/cytoplasmic ratios were observed. After 72 hours the PA treated cells showed evidence of scant cytoplasm and hyperchromasia when compared to control. Overall, the results indicate that incorporation of palmitic acid caused increases in cellular damage and cellular death. This is most likely due to changing the distribution of the phosphatidyl moieties on the cellular membrane.