scholarly journals Expression of ACE2, the SARS-CoV-2 receptor, and TMPRSS2 in prostate epithelial cells

Author(s):  
Hanbing Song ◽  
Bobak Seddighzadeh ◽  
Matthew R. Cooperberg ◽  
Franklin W. Huang

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has spread across more than 200 countries and resulted in over 170,000 deaths. For unclear reasons, higher mortality rates from COVID-19 have been reported in men compared to women. While the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 and serine protease TMPRSS2 have been detected in lung and other tissues, it is not clear what sex differences may exist. We analyzed a publicly-available normal human prostate single-cell RNA sequencing dataset and found TMPRSS2 and ACE2 co-expressing cells in epithelial cells, with a higher proportion in club and hillock cells. Then we investigated datasets of lung epithelial cells and also found club cells co-expressing TMPRSS2 and ACE2. A comparison of ACE2 expression in lung tissue between males and females showed higher expression in males and a larger proportion of ACE2+ cells in male type II pneumocytes, with preliminary evidence that type II pneumocytes of all lung epithelial cell types showed the highest expression of ACE2. These results raise the possibility that sex differences in ACE2 expression and the presence of double-positive cells in the prostate may contribute to the observed disparities of COVID-19.

2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 332-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen McGee-Estrada ◽  
Hung Fan

ABSTRACT Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) is the causative agent of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a contagious lung cancer of sheep that arises from type II pneumocytes and Clara cells of the lung epithelium. Studies of the tropism of this virus have been hindered by the lack of an efficient system for viral replication in tissue culture. To map regulatory regions important for transcriptional activation, an in vivo footprinting method that couples dimethyl sulfate treatment and ligation-mediated PCR was performed in murine type II pneumocyte-derived MLE-15 cells infected with a chimeric Moloney murine leukemia virus driven by the JSRV enhancers (ΔMo+JS Mo-MuLV). In vivo footprints were found in the JSRV enhancers in two regions previously shown to be important for JSRV long terminal repeat (LTR) activity: a binding site for the lung-specific transcription factor HNF-3β and an E-box element in the distal enhancer adjacent to an NF-κB-like binding site. In addition, in vivo footprints were detected in two downstream motifs likely to bind C/EBP and NF-I. Mutational analysis of a JSRV LTR reporter construct (pJS21luc) revealed that the C/EBP binding site is critical for LTR activity, while the putative NF-I binding element is less important; elimination of these sites resulted in 70% and 40% drops in LTR activity, respectively. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays using nuclear extracts from MLE-15 murine Clara cell-derived mtCC1-2 cells with probes corresponding to the NF-I or C/EBP sites revealed several complexes. Antiserum directed against NF-IA, C/EBPα, or C/EBPβ supershifted the corresponding protein-DNA complexes, indicating that these isoforms, which are also important for the expression of several cellular lung-specific genes, may be important for JSRV expression in lung epithelial cells.


1995 ◽  
Vol 268 (1) ◽  
pp. L21-L26 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Bukowski ◽  
S. M. Deneke ◽  
R. A. Lawrence ◽  
S. G. Jenkinson

Type II lung epithelial cells are different from other lung cell types in their means of processing and regulating intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels. In lung cell types, including endothelial cells, fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and macrophages, oxidants, sulfhydryl reagents, and electrophilic agents have been shown to induce cystine uptake and concomitantly increase GSH levels, suggesting that cysteine, formed by intracellular reduction of cystine, is a rate-limiting substrate for GSH synthesis. The cystine transport increase was reportedly due to increase in activity of a sodium-independent transport system designated xc-. We have now examined cultures of rat lung type II cells exposed to diethylmaleic acid and arsenite. Although a rise in cellular GSH occurred, cystine transport was not induced. Cystine transport in type II cells was found to differ from the xc- system previously described. Type II cell cystine transport is primarily sodium dependent and is inhibitable by aspartate as well as glutamate and homocysteate. We conclude that the type II cell differs from other lung cell types in both its cystine transport mechanism and method of GSH regulation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinem Tas ◽  
Emil Rehnberg ◽  
Deniz A. Bölükbaş ◽  
Jason P. Beech ◽  
Liora Nasi Kazado ◽  
...  

Mechanical ventilation is often required in patients with pulmonary disease to maintain adequate gas exchange. Despite improved knowledge regarding the risks of over ventilating the lung, ventilator induced lung injury (VILI) remains a major clinical problem due to inhomogeneities within the diseased lung itself as well as the need to increase pressure or volume of oxygen to the lung as a life-saving measure. VILI is characterized by increased physical forces exerted within the lung, which results in cell death, inflammation and long-term fibrotic remodeling. Animal models can be used to study VILI, but it is challenging to distinguish the contributions of individual cell types in such a setup. In vitro models, which allow for controlled stretching of specific lung cell types have emerged as a potential option, but these models and the membranes used in them are unable to recapitulate some key features of the lung such as the 3D nanofibrous structure of the alveolar basement membrane while also allowing for cells to be cultured at an air liquid interface (ALI) and undergo increased mechanical stretch that mimics VILI. Here we develop a lung on a chip device with a nanofibrous synthetic membrane to provide ALI conditions and controllable stretching, including injurious stretching mimicking VILI. The lung on a chip device consists of a thin (i.e. ~20 μm) stretchable poly(caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibrous membrane placed between two channels fabricated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using 3D printed molds. We demonstrate that this lung on a chip device can be used to induce mechanotrauma in lung epithelial cells due to cyclic pathophysiologic stretch (~25%) that mimics clinical VILI. Pathophysiologic stretch induces cell injury and subsequently cell death, which results in loss of the epithelial monolayer, a feature mimicking the early stages of VILI. We also validate the potential of our lung on a chip device to be used to explore cellular pathways known to be altered with mechanical stretch and show that pathophysiologic stretch of lung epithelial cells causes nuclear translocation of the mechanotransducers YAP/TAZ. In conclusion, we show that a breathable lung on a chip device with a nanofibrous membrane can be easily fabricated using 3D printing of the lung on a chip molds and that this model can be used to explore pathomechanisms in mechanically induced lung injury.


2011 ◽  
Vol 301 (4) ◽  
pp. L461-L477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linghui Zhang ◽  
Kevin Yu ◽  
Kyle W. Robert ◽  
Kristine M. DeBolt ◽  
Nankang Hong ◽  
...  

Rab38 is a rat Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome gene that plays an important role in surfactant homeostasis in alveolar type II (ATII) pneumocytes. We examined Rab38 function in regulating lamellar body (LB) morphology in ATII cells. Quantitative electron microscopy revealed that LBs in ATII cells were ∼77% larger in Rab38-null fawn-hooded hypertension (FHH) than control Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Rab38 protein expression was restricted in lung epithelial cells but was not found in primary endothelial cells. In SD ATII cells, Rab38 protein level gradually declined during 5 days in culture. Importantly, endogenous Rab38 was present in LB fractions purified from SD rat lungs, and transiently expressed enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-tagged Rab38 labeled only the limiting membranes of a subpopulation (∼30%) of LBs in cultured ATII cells. This selective targeting was abolished by point mutations to EGFP-Rab38 and was not shared by Rab7 and Rab4b, which also function in the ATII cells. Using confocal microscopy, we established a method for quantitative evaluation of the enlarged LB phenotype temporally preserved in cultured FHH ATII cells. A direct causal relationship was established when the enlarged LB phenotype was reserved and then rescued by transiently reexpressed EGFP-Rab38 in cultured FHH ATII cells. This rescuing effect was associated with dynamic EGFP-Rab38 targeting to and on LB limiting membranes. We conclude that Rab38 plays an indispensible role in maintaining LB morphology and surfactant homeostasis in ATII pneumocytes.


2009 ◽  
Vol 296 (6) ◽  
pp. L1019-L1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkatadri Kolla ◽  
Linda W. Gonzales ◽  
Nicole A. Bailey ◽  
Ping Wang ◽  
Sreedevi Angampalli ◽  
...  

Carcinoembryonic cell adhesion molecule 6 (CEACAM6) is a glycosylated, glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein expressed in epithelial cells of various human tissues. It binds gram-negative bacteria and is overexpressed in cancers, where it is antiapoptotic and promotes metastases. To characterize CEACAM6 expression in developing lung, we cultured human fetal lung epithelial cells and examined responses to differentiation-promoting hormones, adenovirus expressing thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1), and silencing of TTF-1 with small inhibitory RNA. Glucocorticoid and cAMP had additive stimulatory effects on CEACAM6 content, and combined treatment maximally increased transcription rate, mRNA, and protein ∼10-fold. Knockdown of TTF-1 reduced hormone induction of CEACAM6 by 80%, and expression of recombinant TTF-1 increased CEACAM6 in a dose-dependent fashion. CEACAM6 content of lung tissue increased during the third trimester and postnatally. By immunostaining, CEACAM6 was present in fetal type II cells, but not mesenchymal cells, and localized to both the plasma membrane and within surfactant-containing lamellar bodies. CEACAM6 was secreted from cultured type II cells and was present in both surfactant and supernatant fractions of infant tracheal aspirates. In functional studies, CEACAM6 reduced inhibition of surfactant surface properties by proteins in vitro and blocked apoptosis of electroporated cultured cells. We conclude that CEACAM6 in fetal lung epithelial cells is developmentally and hormonally regulated and a target protein for TTF-1. Because CEACAM6 acts as an antiapoptotic factor and stabilizes surfactant function, in addition to a putative role in innate defense against bacteria, we propose that it is a multifunctional alveolar protein.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui-ning Wang ◽  
Hong-lin Liu ◽  
Yao-xin Chen ◽  
Qian Wen ◽  
Xin-ying Zhou ◽  
...  

AbstractAntimicrobial peptides (AMPs) constitute important groups of bactericidal polypeptides against various microorganisms that exhibit their anti-bacteria activity through cleavage of precursor peptides into the active form of 50–100 amino acids in length. Various AMP cleavage mechanisms have been reported in different cell types; however, those in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)-infected lung epithelial cells remain unknown. In the present study, we found that MTB-infected lung epithelial cells expressed high level of the AMPs hBD1 and LL37 to kill intracellular MTB as the first-line immune barrier against MTB infection. Notably, their production in the lung epithelial cells was closely related to the function of autophagosomes and lysosomes. Experimental induction of autophagy in lung epithelial cells could enhance the expression of active hBD1 and LL37 at the post-transcriptional level, whereas silencing of these two active AMPs could decrease the bactericidal effect of autophagy. These findings indicated that cleavage of peptide precursors to form active AMPs might constitute a previously unrecognized antibacterial mechanism of autophagy.Author summaryLM and RW conceived and designed the experiments; RW performed the experiments and analyzed the data; QW analyzed the data and contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools; HL performed the experiments; XZ, JY, YL and ZH analyzed the data. LM and RW drafted the manuscript.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin Chiahsuan ◽  
John Lee ◽  
Ranjith Ravichandran ◽  
Timothy Fleming ◽  
Stephen Wheatcroft ◽  
...  

AbstractAccumulation of senescent cells contributes to age related diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs) are evolutionarily conserved proteins that play a vital role in many biological processes. Overall, little is known about the functions of IGFBP2 in the epigenetic regulation of cellular senescence and pulmonary fibrosis. Here, we show that Igfbp2 expression was significantly downregulated at both mRNA and protein levels in a low-dose bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model of aged mice. Using the reduced representation of bisulfite sequencing technique, we demonstrated Igfbp2 downregulation is attributed to DNA methylation of CpG islands in fibrotic lungs of aged mice. Furthermore, Igfbp2 siRNA knockdown increased both P53 and P21 protein levels in mouse lung epithelial cells exposed to hypoxia treatment. Lentiviral mediated expression of Igfb2 decreased P21 protein levels and significantly reduced beta galactosidase activity in mouse lung epithelial cells challenged with a senescent drug (atazanavir) and hypoxia treatments. Using the RT2 Profiler PCR Array, we found that P21, PAI-1, IRF-5 and IRF-7, important regulators of senescence pathway, were significantly downregulated specifically in type-II alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) of aged human-Igfbp2 transgenic mice after bleomycin challenge. Finally, transgenic expression of human-Igfbp2 in type-II AECs from aged bleomycin challenged mice significantly decreased senescent associated secretory phenotype factors and also reduced extracellular matrix markers compared to aged wild-type mice challenged with bleomycin injury. Collectively, these findings reveal that epigenetic repression of Igfbp2 promotes pulmonary fibrosis and that restoring IGFBP2 in fibrotic lungs could prove effective in IPF treatment.


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