Fatty-acid synthase activity and mRNA level in hypertrophic type II cells from silica-treated rats

Silica instillation causes a massive increase in lung surfactant. Two populations of type II pneumocytes can be isolated from rats administered silica by intratracheal injection: type IIA cells similar to type II cells from normal rats and type IIB cells, which are larger and contain elevated levels of surfactant protein A and phospholipid. Activities of choline-phosphate cytidylyltransferase, a rate-regulatory enzyme in phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, and fatty-acid synthase (FAS) are increased in type IIB cells isolated from rats 14 days after silica injection. In the present study, we examined the increase in FAS and cytidylyltransferase activities in type IIB cells as a function of time after silica administration. FAS activity increased rapidly, was approximately threefold elevated 1 day after silica administration and has reached close to the maximum increase by 3 days. Cytidylyltransferase activity was not increased on day 1, was significantly increased on day 3 but was not maximally increased until day 7. Inhibition of de novo fatty-acid biosynthesis, by in vivo injection of hydroxycitric acid and inclusion of agaric acid in the type II cell culture medium, abolished the increase in cytidylyltransferase activity on day 3 but not FAS and had no effect on activities of two other enzymes of phospholipid synthesis. FAS mRNA levels were not increased in type IIB cells isolated 1-14 days after silica injection. These data show that the increase in FAS activity in type IIB cells is an early response to silica, that it mediates the increase in cytidylyltransferase activity, and that it is not due to enhanced FAS gene expression.