Mechanical forces alter growth factor release by pleural
mesothelial cells.
Waters, Christopher M., Julie Y. Chang, Mathew R. Glucksberg, Natacha
Depaola, and James B. Grotberg.
Departments of Anesthesia and Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern
University, Chicago, IL 60611
APStracts 3:0212L, 1996.
The mesothelial cells which form the visceral pleura of the lung are
subjected to physical forces such as stretch due to lung expansion
and fluid shear stress due to the sliding motion of the lung against
the chest wall. In this study, the effect of mechanical forces on the
production of growth factors by mesothelial cells was investigated.
Rat visceral pleura mesothelial (RVPM) cells were exposed to fluid
shear stress by perfusing a column of cell-covered beads. RVPM cells
grown on a silicone elastomer were subjected to cyclic strain by
applying an oscillating vacuum to the bottom of the wells using the
Flexercell apparatus. Fluid shear stress (5.2 to 15.7 dynes/cm2)
stimulated the release of endothelin-1 (ET-1) by RVPM cells 2- to 5
-fold over static cells. ET-1 secretion by RVPM cells was also
stimulated approximately 2-fold by cyclic stretch (20% maximum
strain, 30 cycles/min). RVPM cells released significant levels of
platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), but there was no effect of
either shear stress or cyclic strain on PDGF release. These results
suggest that the production of growth factors by pleural mesothelial
cells is regulated in part by physical forces.
Received 29 March 1996; accepted in final form 14 October 1996.
APS Manuscript Number L108-6.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Lung Cell. Mol.
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 31 December 1996