title: Mechanical stretch-induced serotonin release from pulmonary neuroendocrine cells: implications for lung development.
abstract: Pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNEC) produce amine (serotonin, 5-HT) and peptides (e.g., bombesin, calcitonin) with growth factor-like properties and are thought to play an important role in lung development. Because physical forces are essential for lung growth and development, we investigated the effects of mechanical strain on 5-HT release in PNEC freshly isolated from rabbit fetal lung and in the PNEC-related tumor H727 cell line. Cultures exposed to sinusoidal cyclic stretch showed a significant 5-HT release inhibitable with gadolinium chloride (10 nM), a blocker of mechanosensitive channels. In contrast to hypoxia (Po2 approximately 20 mmHg), stretch-induced 5-HT release was not affected by Ca2+-free medium or nifedipine (50 microM), excluding the exocytic pathway. In H727 cells, stretch failed to release calcitonin, a peptide stored within dense core vesicles (DCV), whereas hypoxia caused massive calcitonin release. 5-HT released by mechanical stretch is derived predominantly from the cytoplasmic pool, because it is rapid ( approximately 5 min) and is releasable from early (20 days of gestation) fetal PNEC containing few DCV. Both mechanical stretch and hypoxia upregulated expression of tryptophan hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme of 5-HT synthesis. We conclude that mechanical strain is an important physiological stimulus for the release of 5-HT from PNEC via mechanosensitive channels with potential effects on lung development and resorption of lung fluid at the time of birth.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, Department of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G1X8.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Copland
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Post
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yeger
authors.forename: Ernest
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cutz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D047108:Embryonic Development; D006801:Humans; D006867:Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008168:Lung / Q000196:embryology*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000196:embryology*; D011817:Rabbits; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin; D006867:Hydrolases