Cigarette smoke components and alveolar macrophage protein synthesis

A comparison was made of the effects of acrolein and aqueous cigarette smoke extracts on amino acid incorporation into protein by rabbit pulmonary alveolar macrophages. Studies were on cells maintained in vitro as adherent monolayers. Freshly prepared acrolein inhibited amino acid incorporation by significant amounts after approximately 30 min and aqueous smoke extracts after approximately 15 min of incubation. Fifty percent inhibition by acrolein occurred with a dose of 5.5 microgram acrolein/ml, an amount four times that in the amount of aqueous smoke extract required for 50% inhibition according to previously reported findings. Analysis by a dual-isotope technique and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed the inhibitory effect of acrolein to be nonspecific, as had previously been found for aqueous smoke extracts. The presence of the sulfhydryl reagent cysteine, reduced the inhibitory effect of acrolein by 57.5%, but reduced inhibition induced by aqueous smoke extracts by only 12.2%. These results suggest the effects of acrolein are both quantitatively and qualitatively different than those of aqueous smoke extracts.