Keratinocyte growth factor reduces alveolar epithelial susceptibility to in vitro mechanical deformation

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) is a potent mitogen that prevents lung epithelial injury in vivo. We hypothesized that KGF treatment reduces ventilator-induced lung injury by increasing the alveolar epithelial tolerance to mechanical strain. We evaluated the effects of in vivo KGF treatment to rats on the response of alveolar type II (ATII) cells to in vitro controlled, uniform deformation. KGF (5 mg/kg) or saline (no-treatment control) was instilled intratracheally in rats, and ATII cells were isolated 48 h later. After 24 h in culture, both cell groups were exposed to 1 h of continuous cyclic strain (25% change in surface area); undeformed wells were included as controls. Cytotoxicity was evaluated quantitatively with fluorescent immunocytochemistry. There was >1% cell death in undeformed KGF-treated and control groups. KGF pretreatment significantly reduced deformation-related cell mortality to only 2.2 +/- 1.3% (SD) from 49 +/- 5.5% in control wells (P < 0.001). Effects of extracellular matrix, actin cytoskeleton, and phenotype of KGF-treated and control cells were examined. The large reduction in deformation-induced cell death demonstrates that KGF protects ATII cells by increasing their strain tolerance and supports KGF treatment as a potential preventative measure for ventilator-induced lung injury.