title: Degradation of surfactant protein B by alveolar type II cells.
abstract: Surfactant protein B (SP-B) metabolism was studied in primary cultures of alveolar type II cells. Iodinated SP-B reconstituted with surfactant was incorporated rapidly into lung pneumocytes and degraded to trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble products after a lag period of 1 h. Cellular degradation of SP-B occurred whether or not phospholipid liposomes or surfactant was added to the phospholipid-poor SP-B. Uptake and degradation of SP-B at 37 degrees C showed a linear increase up to 3 micrograms SP-B/ml after which the slope of the curve became less steep with increasing concentrations of SP-B in the media. After 4 h of incubation with SP-B, 35% of the SP-B processed was recovered as degradation products. Ninety-six percent of the degradation products were in the media and only 4% were recovered in the cell. The bulk of the breakdown of SP-B occurred inside the type II cells since degradation did not occur at 4 degrees C, showed a 1-h lag period, was proportional to the SP-B protein internalized by the cells, was inhibited 47% by ammonium chloride, was unaffected by the addition of protease inhibitors to the medium, and cell-conditioned medium produced only limited SP-B degradation. Alveolar macrophages also degraded SP-B, whereas other cell types degraded SP-B to a lesser extent. Thus the specificity of the metabolism of SP-B may be through the capability of lung cells to degrade SP-B.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma; D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008081:Liposomes; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013997:Time Factors; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D008081:Liposomes; D011510:Proteolipids; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants