Effects of transdifferentiation and EGF on claudin isoform expression in alveolar epithelial cells

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.

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.


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.


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)


2009 ◽  
Vol 297 (3) ◽  
pp. L439-L454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuanxiu Yang ◽  
Lijing Su ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Lin Liu

UTP is known to regulate alveolar fluid clearance. However, the relative contribution of alveolar type I cells and type II cells to this process is unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of UTP on ion transport in type I-like cell (AEC I) and type II-like cell (AEC II) monolayers. Luminal treatment of cell monolayers with UTP increased short-circuit current ( Isc) of AEC II but decreased Isc of AEC I. The Cl− channel blockers NPPB and DIDS inhibited the UTP-induced changes in Isc (Δ Isc) in both types of cells. Amiloride, an inhibitor of epithelial Na+ channels (ENaC), abolished the UTP-induced Δ Isc in AEC I, but not in AEC II. The general blocker of K+ channels, BaCl2, eliminated the UTP-induced Δ Isc in AEC II, but not in AEC I. The intermediate conductance (IKCa) blocker, clofilium, also blocked the UTP effect in AEC II. The signal transduction pathways mediated by UTP were the same in AEC I and AEC II. Furthermore, UTP increased Cl− secretion in AEC II and Cl− absorption in AEC I. Our results suggest that UTP induces opposite changes in Isc in AEC I and AEC II, likely due to the reversed Cl− flux and different contributions of ENaC and IKCa. Our results further imply a new concept that type II cells contribute to UTP-induced fluid secretion and type I cells contribute to UTP-induced fluid absorption in alveoli.


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.


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