Distribution of alveolar type II cells in neonatal and adult rat lung revealed by RT-PCR in situ.
Type II pneumocytes in newborn lungs are more uniformly distributed, whereas in adult lungs they are located at alveolar corners. We used morphometry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in situ hybridization of surfactant protein C mRNA to determine the patterns of type II cell distribution in random lung sections from Sprague-Dawley rats at various neonatal stages and adults. There was a progressive increase in the percentage of type II cells at alveolar corners from 30% at 1 day to 51, 62, 78, and 81% at 3, 5, and 7 days old and adult rats, respectively. There were statistically significant differences (P < 0.001) in the localization of type II cells from the nearest alveolar corner in the 1-day-old compared with 7-day-old and adult rat lungs. These results show that rat type II cells localize to the alveolar corners within the first 7 days postnatally and provide a system for study of factors that regulate alveolar epithelial cell distribution.
Mensah
E A
EA
Department of Internal Medicine, State University of New York Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo General Hospital 14203, USA.
Kumar
N M
NM
Nielsen
L
L
Lwebuga-Mukasa
J S
JS
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D015335:Molecular Probes / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D015335:Molecular Probes