Surfactant metabolism in transgenic mice after granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor ablation. Ikegami, Machiko, Takashi Ueda, William Hull, Jeffrey A. Whitsett, Richard C. Mulligan, Glenn Dranoff, Alan H. Jobe. HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER, UCLA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, TORRANCE, CA 90502, DIVISION OF PULMONARY BIOLOGY, CINCINNATI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, CINCINNATI, OH 45229-2899, WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02142, DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, BOSTON, MA 02115
APStracts 2:0216L, 1995.
Mice made GM-CSF deficient by homologous recombination maintain normal steady state hematopoiesis but have an alveolar accumulation of surfactant lipids and protein that is similar to pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in man. We asked how GM-CSF deficiency alters surfactant metabolism and function in mice. Alveolar and lung tissue saturated phosphatidylcholine (Sat PC) were increased 6 to 8 fold in 7-9 wk old GM-CSF deficient mice relative to controls. Incorporation of radiolabeled palmitate and choline into Sat PC was higher in GM-CSF mice than control mice, and no loss of labeled Sat PC occurred from the lungs of GM-CSF deficient mice. Secretion of radiolabeled Sat PC to the alveolus was similar in GM-CSF deficient and control mice. Labeled Sat PC and surfactant protein A (SP-A) given by tracheal instillation were cleared rapidly in control mice, but there was no measurable loss from the lungs of GM-CSF deficient mice. The function of the surfactant from GM-CSF deficient mice was normal when tested in preterm surfactant deficient rabbits. GM-CSF deficiency results in a catabolic defect for Sat PC and SP-A.

Received 18 May 1995; accepted in final form 8 November 1995.
APS Manuscript Number L155-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Lung Cell. Mol.
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 8 December 95