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An Experimental System to Study Mechanotransduction in Fetal Lung Cells
Published on: February 16, 2012
Mechanical distension modulates pulmonary alveolar epithelial phenotypic expression in vitro
J A Gutierrez1, R F Gonzalez, L G Dobbs
1Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0106, USA.
The American Journal of Physiology
|March 5, 1998
Summary
Mechanical forces influence lung cell development. Mechanical distension of alveolar type II cells in culture increased type I cell markers and decreased type II cell markers, suggesting mechanical factors regulate lung epithelial cell phenotypes.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- The pulmonary alveolar epithelium comprises type I and type II cells, vital for lung function.
- Mechanical forces are hypothesized to influence the expression of type I or type II cell phenotypes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of mechanical distension on the expression of type I and type II cell markers in cultured alveolar type II cells.
Main Methods:
- Rat alveolar type II cells were subjected to tonic mechanical distension in culture.
- Analysis included markers for type I (rTI40) and type II (SP-A, SP-B, SP-C) cell phenotypes, and GAPDH.
Main Results:
- Mechanical distension significantly increased rTI40 mRNA (type I marker) by 68%.
- Conversely, SP-B and SP-C mRNA (type II markers) decreased to 35% and 20% of controls, respectively.
- Changes in SP-B and SP-C were primarily transcriptional; rTI40 changes were post-transcriptional.
Conclusions:
- Mechanical distension alters alveolar epithelial cell phenotypic expression in vitro.
- These findings highlight the role of mechanical factors in regulating lung epithelial cell differentiation, partly at the transcriptional level.
