Lung alveolar epithelial cell migration in vitro: modulators and
regulation processes.
Lesur, O, K Arsalane, and D Lane.
Unit[acute]e de Recherche Pulmonaire, University of Sherbrooke,
Qu[acute]ebec, Canada
APStracts 2:0153L, 1995.
Altered bronchioloalveolar epithelia following acute lung injury (ALI)
must be repaired quickly in order to restore lung function. During
reepithelialization, type II cells initially appear to migrate and
spread over a remodeled matrix followed by a secondary proliferative
phase. It was hypothesized that i) type II cells can develop
locomotion in vitro which is modulated by growth factors,
proinflammatory cytokines and substrate adhesion molecules (SAMs);
ii) migration and proliferation of type II cells can occur as
distinctive processes. Chemotaxis assays were elaborated using short
-term cultures of rat type II pneumocytes. EGF and TGFa, laminin and
fibronectin were found to be the main attractants for type II cells
with respective increases of 8.5-, 10.5-, 8-, and 7-fold in cell
migration, (p<0.05 vs control). Laminin induced both gradient
-dependent and random cell migration. Addition of laminin with EGF had
a synergistic effect in promoting cell migration (30-fold increase
over control, p<0.05). IFN-g and IL-6 inhibited EGF-induced type
II cell migration while TNFa and IL-1b acted as primers for type II
cell migration (1.5-fold increase over control, p<0.05). Type II
cells did not need to be in a proliferative phase in order to exhibit
motility. New insights regarding the regulatory processes for type II
cell migration are especially relevant in our understanding of early
events occuring during epithelial repair after ALI.
Received 4 May 1995; accepted in final form 23 August 1995.
APS Manuscript Number L134-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Lung Cell. Mol.
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 15 September 1995.