Role of surfactant protein A in non-infectious lung diseases.
Surfactant protein A (SP-A) is a large multimeric protein found in the airways and alveoli of the lungs. SP-A is a member of the collectin family of proteins, characterized by NH2-terminal collagen-like regions and COOH-terminal lectin domains. Although other surfactant proteins such as SP-B function to reduce surface tension in the lungs, SP-A as well as SP-D regulates the pulmonary immune response. To date, a number of studies have shown the immunoregulatory function of SP-A, mainly in the field of infectious diseases. By binding to a wide variety of pathogens, SP-A opsonizes and enhances pathogen uptake by phagocytes. In addition to the effect on pathogens, recent studies have shown that SP-A also modulates lung immune system in the area of non-infectious lung diseases. In this review, the potential role of SP-A in the multiple aspects of pulmonary host defense will be discussed, focusing mainly on non-infectious lung diseases such as acute and chronic pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer. J. Med. Invest. 61: 1-6, February, 2014.
Department of Respiratory Medicine and Rheumatology, Institute of Health Biosciences, the University of Tokushima Graduate School.
Hisatsugu
H
Goto
Atsushi
A
Mitsuhashi
Yasuhiko
Y
Nishioka
D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A / Q000502:physiology*
D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A