Association of ICAM-1 with the cytoskeleton in rat alveolar epithelial cells in primary culture

1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (5) ◽  
pp. L707-L718 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. W. Barton ◽  
S. E. Wilcoxen ◽  
P. J. Christensen ◽  
R. Paine

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 ICAM-1) is a transmembrane adhesion protein that is expressed constitutively on the apical surface of type I cells in vivo and on type II cells in vitro as they spread in culture, assuming type I cell-like characteristics. To investigate the possible interaction of ICAM-1 with the alveolar epithelial cell cytoskeleton, rat type II cells in primary culture were extracted with nonionic detergent, and residual ICAM-1 associated with the cytoskeletal remnants was determined using immunofluorescence microscopy, immunoprecipitation, and cell-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A large fraction of alveolar epithelial cell ICAM-1 remained associated with the cytoskeleton after detergent extraction, whereas two other transmembrane molecules, transferrin receptor and class II major histocompatibility complex, were completely removed. ICAM-1 was redistributed on the cell surface after the disruption of actin filaments with cytochalasin B, suggesting interaction with the actin cytoskeleton. In contrast, ICAM-1 was completely detergent soluble in rat pulmonary artery endothelial cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and rat alveolar macrophages. The association of ICAM-1 with the alveolar epithelial cell cytoskeleton was not altered after stimulation with inflammatory cytokines. However, detergent resistant ICAM-1 was significantly increased after crosslinking of ICAM-1 on the cell surface, suggesting that this cytoskeletal association may be modulated by interactions of alveolar epithelial cells with inflammatory cells. The association of ICAM-1 with the cytoskeleton in alveolar epithelial cells may provide a fixed intermediary between mobile inflammatory cells and the alveolar surface.

1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (1) ◽  
pp. L127-L135 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. W. Barton ◽  
S. Wilcoxen ◽  
P. J. Christensen ◽  
R. Paine

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is expressed at high levels on type I alveolar epithelial cells in the normal lung and is induced in vitro as type II cells spread in primary culture. In contrast, in most nonhematopoetic cells ICAM-1 expression is induced in response to inflammatory cytokines. We have formed the hypothesis that the signals that control ICAM-1 expression in alveolar epithelial cells are fundamentally different from those controlling expression in most other cells. To test this hypothesis, we have investigated the influence of inflammatory cytokines on ICAM-1 expression in isolated type II cells that have spread in culture and compared this response to that of rat pulmonary artery endothelial cells (RPAEC). ICAM-1 protein, determined both by a cell-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and by Western blot analysis, and mRNA were minimally expressed in unstimulated RPAEC but were significantly induced in a time- and dose-dependent manner by treatment with tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 beta, or interferon-gamma. In contrast, these cytokines did not influence the constitutive high level ICAM-1 protein expression in alveolar epithelial cells and only minimally affected steady-state mRNA levels. ICAM-1 mRNA half-life, measured in the presence of actinomycin D, was relatively long at 7 h in alveolar epithelial cells and 4 h in RPAEC. The striking lack of response of ICAM-1 expression by alveolar epithelial cells to inflammatory cytokines is in contrast to virtually all other epithelial cells studied to date and supports the hypothesis that ICAM-1 expression by these cells is a function of cellular differentiation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (4) ◽  
pp. L318-L325 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Simon ◽  
J. A. Edwards ◽  
M. M. Reza ◽  
R. G. Kunkel

In a variety of inflammatory lung diseases, type I alveolar epithelial cells are more likely to be injured than are type II cells. Because oxidants have been implicated as a cause of injury in various inflammatory lung diseases, we evaluated the effects of differentiation on alveolar epithelial cell susceptibility to H2O2-induced injury. With the use of isolated rat type II cells in culture, we found that the cytotoxic effect of H2O2 increased between days 2 and 7, when type II cells are known to lose their distinctive type II properties and assume a more type I-like appearance. We previously reported that type II cells utilized both intracellular catalase and glutathione-dependent reactions to protect against H2O2. We therefore examined whether alterations in either of these protective mechanisms were responsible for the differentiation-dependent changes in sensitivity to H2O2. We found that catalase activity within alveolar epithelial cells decreased between 2 and 7 days in culture, whereas no changes were detected in glutathione-dependent systems. We then used a histochemical technique that detects catalase activity and found that type II cells within rat lungs possessed numerous catalase-containing peroxisomes, whereas very few were detected in type I cells. These findings demonstrate that as type II cells assume a type I-like phenotype, they become more susceptible to H2O2-induced injury. This increased susceptibility is associated with reductions in intracellular catalase activity, both in vitro and in vivo.


1994 ◽  
Vol 266 (4) ◽  
pp. L476-L484 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Paine ◽  
P. Christensen ◽  
G. B. Toews ◽  
R. H. Simon

In normal lung, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) is expressed at high levels on thin type I alveolar epithelial cells, but is minimally expressed on cuboidal type II cells. ICAM-1 is induced in primary culture on tissue culture-treated plastic as type II cells undergo transition toward a type I cell-like phenotype. We hypothesized that alveolar epithelial cell expression of ICAM-1 might be regulated in part by signals that influence the state of differentiation of these cells. We found that rat type II cells that were cultured as aggregates of cuboidal cells on a hydrated basement membrane gel (Matrigel) or on floating type I collagen gels, expressed markedly less ICAM-1 protein and mRNA compared with cells that had spread on plastic. In contrast, type II cells that had spread as monolayers on dishes coated with basement membrane proteins in planar configuration demonstrated ICAM-1 expression comparable to that of cells on plastic alone. Thus regulation of alveolar epithelial cell expression of this immunologically important adhesion molecule involves complex spatial interactions of the cells with the basement membrane and other epithelial cells.


1990 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Taatjes ◽  
L A Barcomb ◽  
K O Leslie ◽  
R B Low

We used post-embedding cytochemical techniques to investigate the lectin binding profiles of rat lung alveolar epithelial cells. Sections from rat lung embedded in the hydrophilic resin Lowicryl K4M were incubated either directly with a lectin-gold complex or with an unlabeled lectin followed by a specific glycoprotein-gold complex. The binding patterns of the five lectins used could be divided into three categories according to their reactivity with alveolar epithelial cells: (a) the Limax flavus lectin and Ricinus communis I lectin bound to both type I and type II cell plasma membranes; (b) the Helix pomatia lectin and Sambucus nigra L. lectin bound to type II but not type I cells; and (c) the Erythrina cristagalli lectin reacted with type I cells but was unreactive with type II cells. The specificity of staining was assessed by control experiments, including pre-absorption of the lectins with various oligosaccharides and enzymatic pre-treatment of sections with highly purified glycosidases to remove specific sugar residues. The results demonstrate that these lectins can be used to distinguish between type I and type II cells and would therefore be useful probes for investigating cell dynamics during lung development and remodeling.


1994 ◽  
Vol 266 (1) ◽  
pp. L92-L100 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Lannan ◽  
K. Donaldson ◽  
D. Brown ◽  
W. MacNee

The oxidant-antioxidant balance in the airspaces of the lungs may be critical in protecting the lungs from the effects of cigarette smoke. We studied the effect of cigarette smoke and its condensates on the detachment, attachment, and proliferation of the A549 human alveolar epithelial cell line, in an in vitro model of cell injury and regeneration and the protective effects of antioxidants. Whole and vapor phase cigarette smoke decreased 51Cr-labeled A549 cell attachment, increased cell detachment, and decreased cell proliferation, as assessed by [3H]thymidine uptake. Freshly isolated rat type II alveolar epithelial cells showed an enhanced susceptibility to smoke-induced cell lysis when compared with the A549 cell line. Reduced glutathione (GSH) (400 microM) protected against the effects of cigarette smoke exposure on cell attachment, proliferation, and detachment. Depletion of intracellular GSH with buthionine sulfoxamine enhanced the epithelial cell detachment injury produced by smoke condensates. We conclude that cigarette smoke and its condensates cause an oxidant-induced injury to A549 human type II alveolar epithelial cells. Both intra- and extracellular GSH have important roles in protecting epithelial cells from the injurious effects of cigarette smoke.


2005 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 322-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Chen ◽  
Beiyun Zhou ◽  
Brigham C. Willis ◽  
Argelia J. Sandoval ◽  
Janice M. Liebler ◽  
...  

Rat alveolar epithelial type II cells grown on polycarbonate filters form high-resistance monolayers and concurrently acquire many phenotypic properties of type I cells. Treatment with EGF has previously been shown to increase transepithelial resistance across alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) monolayers. We investigated changes in claudin expression in primary cultured AEC during transdifferentiation to the type I cell-like phenotype ( days 0, 1, and 8), and on day 5 in culture ± EGF (10 ng/ml) from day 0 or day 4. Claudins 4 and 7 were increased, whereas claudins 3 and 5 were decreased, on later compared with earlier days in culture. Exposure to EGF led to increases in claudins 4 and 7 and decreases in claudins 3 and 5. Claudin 1 was only faintly detectable in freshly isolated type II cells and remained unchanged over time in culture and after exposure to EGF. These results suggest that increases in transepithelial resistance accompanying AEC transdifferentiation and/or EGF exposure are mediated, at least in part, by changes in the pattern of expression of specific claudin isoforms.


1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (2) ◽  
pp. L261-L271 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Ingbar ◽  
K. Hepler ◽  
R. Dowin ◽  
E. Jacobsen ◽  
J. M. Dunitz ◽  
...  

In many diseases the lung is injured by oxidants. gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is an ectoenzyme on the apical plasma membrane of many epithelial cells that protects against oxidants by replenishing intracellular glutathione. We sought to localize GGT within rat lungs in vivo and in cultured alveolar epithelial cells. In the adult rat lung, indirect immunofluorescence (IF) with a polyclonal antibody to triton-solubilized GGT revealed linear staining outlining the alveoli. Immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) localized the protein on the apical surface of the alveolar epithelial cells, but more densely on type I cells than type II cells, as well as on the apical surface of some ciliated bronchial cells. On Western blots of whole lung and isolated type II cell membrane proteins, the antibody predominantly recognized a broad protein band of 110-120 kDa, consistent with the uncleaved, glycosylated form of GGT. Over time in culture, isolated rat type II cells had increasing immunoreactivity on Western blots and indirect IF but decreasing enzyme activity. At 2 days in culture, confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated that GGT was polarized to the apical surface of nonconfluent type II cells. Thus GGT is a polarized apical membrane protein in type I and II cells, suggesting a role in the metabolic functions of these cells. The increased immunoreactive GGT of cultured type II cells is consistent with their acquisition of properties similar to type I cells, but the lack of correlation between immunoreactive protein and enzyme activity awaits explanation.


2001 ◽  
Vol 280 (6) ◽  
pp. L1085-L1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valsamma Abraham ◽  
Michael L. Chou ◽  
Philip George ◽  
Patricia Pooler ◽  
Aisha Zaman ◽  
...  

We analyzed the pattern of gap junction protein (connexin) expression in vivo by indirect immunofluorescence. In normal rat lung sections, connexin (Cx)32 was expressed by type II cells, whereas Cx43 was more ubiquitously expressed and Cx46 was expressed by occasional alveolar epithelial cells. In response to bleomycin-induced lung injury, Cx46 was upregulated by alveolar epithelial cells, whereas Cx32 and Cx43 expression were largely unchanged. Given that Cx46 may form gap junction channels with either Cx43 or Cx32, we examined the ability of primary alveolar epithelial cells cultured for 6 days, which express Cx43 and Cx46, to form heterocellular gap junctions with cells expressing other connexins. Day 6 alveolar epithelial cells formed functional gap junctions with other day 6 cells or with HeLa cells transfected with Cx43 (HeLa/Cx43), but they did not communicate with HeLa/Cx32 cells. Furthermore, day 6alveolar epithelial cells formed functional gap junction channels with freshly isolated type II cells. Taken together, these data are consistent with the notion that type I and type II alveolar epithelial cells communicate through gap junctions compatible with Cx43.


1994 ◽  
Vol 267 (4) ◽  
pp. C893-C900 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. H. Wendt ◽  
V. A. Polunovsky ◽  
M. S. Peterson ◽  
P. B. Bitterman ◽  
D. H. Ingbar

Mesenchymal cell apoptosis is important during development, tissue homeostasis, and repair. We sought to determine whether type II alveolar epithelial cells influence mesenchymal cell apoptosis, using the model of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)-induced apoptosis of endothelial cells. Apoptosis was quantified by morphology and confirmed by electrophoretic DNA size analysis. Endothelial cells exposed to 20 ng/ml of TNF-alpha for 16 h exhibited apoptosis in 14.4 +/- 1.4% (SE) of the cells, whereas serum-free conditioned media (CM) from primary cultures of rat type II cells reduced TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis by 52% to 7.5 +/- 0.9% (P < 0.01). Flow cytometric analysis of subdiploid DNA content per cell also showed that CM reduced the percentage of cells with TNF-alpha-induced DNA degradation by 48 +/- 1.7%. The protective effect of CM was concentration dependent and also was effective across a range of TNF concentrations. This CM factor was trypsin sensitive and stable at 65 degrees C for 1 h. It bound to a Mono-Q anion-exchange resin, eluting in a discrete peak at 1.18 M NaCl and pH 8.5. Therefore alveolar type II cells release a heat-stable peptide(s) that protects endothelial cells against apoptosis induced by TNF. Our results suggest that alveolar epithelial cells regulate the response of mesenchymal cells to factors that induce apoptosis during injury and repair.


2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (6) ◽  
pp. L1180-L1185 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Flecknoe ◽  
R. Harding ◽  
G. Maritz ◽  
S. B. Hooper

Type I and type II alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) are derived from the same progenitor cell, but little is known about the factors that regulate their differentiation into separate phenotypes. An alteration in lung expansion alters the proportion type II AECs in the fetal lung, indicating that this may be a regulatory factor. Our aim was to quantify the changes in the proportion of type I and type II AECs caused by increased fetal lung expansion and to provide evidence for transdifferentiation of type II into type I cells. Lung tissue samples were collected from ovine fetuses exposed to increased lung expansion induced by 2, 4, or 10 days of tracheal obstruction (TO). The identities and proportions of AEC types were determined with electron microscopy. The proportion of type II cells was reduced from 28.5 ± 2.2% in control fetuses to 9.4 ± 2.3% at 2 days of TO and then to 1.9 ± 0.8% at 10 days. The proportion of type I AECs was not altered at 2 days of TO (63.1 ± 2.3%) compared with that of control cells (64.8 ± 0.5%) but was markedly elevated (to 89.4 ± 0.9%) at 10 days of TO. The proportion of an intermediate AEC type, which displayed characteristics of both type I and type II cells, increased from 5.7 ± 1.3% in control fetuses to 23.8 ± 5.1% by 2 days of TO and was similar to control values at 10 days of TO (7.7 ± 0.9%). Our data show that increases in fetal lung expansion cause time-dependent changes in the proportion of AEC types, including a transient increase in an intermediate cell type. These data provide the first evidence to support the hypothesis that increases in fetal lung expansion induce differentiation of type II into type I AECs via an intermediate cell type.


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