title: A recombinant fragment of human surfactant protein D lacking the short collagen-like stalk fails to correct morphological alterations in lungs of SP-D deficient mice.
abstract: Emphysema-like pathology is a characteristic feature of surfactant protein D (SP-D) knock-out mice. Treatment with a recombinant fragment of human SP-D consisting of a short collagen-like stalk (but not the entire collagen-like domain of native SP-D), neck, and carbohydrate recognizing domain (CRD) inhibits development of emphysema-like pathology in SP-D deficient mice. On the other hand, it has been shown that the entire collagen-like domain is necessary for preventing SP-D knock-out mice from pulmonary emphysema development. Thus, in the present study, we aimed to elucidate the role of the short collagen-like stalk for the function of the recombinant fragment of human SP-D. We treated SP-D knock-out mice with a fragment of human SP-D lacking the short collagen-like stalk and compared the effects on lung morphology with results from untreated wild-type and SP-D knock-out mice and from SP-D knock-out mice treated with a recombinant fragment of human SP-D including the short collagen-like stalk. The fragment of SP-D lacking the short collagen-like stalk failed to correct pulmonary emphysematous alterations demonstrating the importance of the short collagen-like stalk for the biological activity of the recombinant fragment of human SP-D.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 2, Bern 9, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wucherpfennig
authors.forename: Rose-Marie
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mackay
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Townsend
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mühlfeld
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hawgood
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ochs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D037663:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein D / Q000737:chemistry / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D037663:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein D; D011994:Recombinant Proteins