Induction of smooth muscle alpha-actin in vascular smooth muscle cells by arginine vasopressin is mediated by c-Jun amino-terminal kinases and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase.

Exposure of vascular smooth muscle cells to arginine vasopressin (AVP) increases smooth muscle alpha-actin (SM-alpha-actin) expression through activation of the SM- alpha-actin promoter. The goal of this study was to determine the role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) family in regulation of SM-alpha-actin expression. AVP activated all three MAP kinase family members: ERKs, JNKs, and p38 MAP kinase. Inhibition of JNKs or p38 decreased AVP-stimulated SM-alpha-actin promoter activity, whereas inhibition of ERKs had no effect. A 150-base pair region of the promoter containing two CArG boxes was sufficient to mediate regulation by vasoconstrictors. Mutations in either CArG box decreased AVP-stimulated promoter activity. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays using oligonucleotides corresponding to either CArG box resulted in a complex of similar mobility whose intensity was increased by AVP. Antibodies against serum response factor (SRF) completely super-shifted this complex, indicating that SRF binds to both CArG boxes. Overexpression of SRF increased basal promoter activity, but activity was still stimulated by AVP. AVP stimulation rapidly increased SRF phosphorylation. These data indicate that both JNKs and p38 participate in regulation of SM- alpha-actin expression. SRF, which binds to two critical CArG boxes in the promoter, represents a potential target of these kinases.

The integrin alpha v beta 6 binds and activates latent TGF beta 1: a mechanism for regulating pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis.

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) family members are secreted in inactive complexes with a latency-associated peptide (LAP), a protein derived from the N-terminal region of the TGF beta gene product. Extracellular activation of these complexes is a critical but incompletely understood step in regulation of TGF beta function in vivo. We show that TGF beta 1 LAP is a ligand for the integrin alpha v beta 6 and that alpha v beta 6-expressing cells induce spatially restricted activation of TGF beta 1. This finding explains why mice lacking this integrin develop exaggerated inflammation and, as we show, are protected from pulmonary fibrosis. These data identify a novel mechanism for locally regulating TGF beta 1 function in vivo by regulating expression of the alpha v beta 6 integrin.

New in situ mouse model to quantify alveolar epithelial fluid clearance.

Because the availability of transgenic mice makes it possible to examine the contribution of single genes to in vivo function, we developed a simple in situ mouse model that can be used to quantify isosmolar alveolar epithelial fluid clearance (AFC). Mice were killed, a tracheostomy was done, and then a test solution of a 5% isosmolar albumin solution with 0.1 micro Ci of 125I-labeled albumin was instilled via the trachea into the distal air spaces of both lungs. After instillation, the lungs were inflated to 7 cmH2O with 100% O2 and maintained at 37 degrees C by placing the animals under an infrared lamp. AFC was measured by the progressive increase in concentration of labeled and unlabeled protein over 1 h. The results indicated the following. 1) Basal, unstimulated AFC in mouse lungs was significantly faster than in ex vivo rat lungs (27 +/- 5% in in situ mice vs. 11 +/- 3% in ex vivo rat lungs; P < 0.05). 2) Comparison of equivalent doses (10(-4) M) of beta-adrenergic agonist (isoproterenol) and beta2-adrenergic agonists (terbutaline and salmeterol) indicated that stimulated clearance occurred only in presence of isoproterenol. 3) Because atenolol, a specific beta1-antagonist, abolished the effect of isoproterenol, the beta-adrenergic stimulation appears to be mediated by beta1-receptors. The rate of AFC in nonperfused mouse lungs was significantly faster than in prior studies of nonperfused lungs in rats and sheep. Interestingly, the stimulated clearance rate in mice was similar to the fast rates of AFC that we recently reported in patients recovering from hydrostatic pulmonary edema. This in situ model is a unique experimental preparation that can be readily used to quantify isosmolar epithelial fluid clearance in mice.

Effects of inhaled nitric oxide or inhibition of endogenous nitric oxide formation on hyperoxic lung injury.

Nitric oxide (NO) may either protect against or contribute to oxidant-induced lung injury. In this study, we sought to determine whether either inhaled NO in concentration of 10 and 100 parts per million (ppm) or inhibition of endogenous NO formation with L-NG nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or aminoguanidine alters the extent of lung injury in rats breathing 100% O2. Lung thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), wet to dry lung weight ratio (Q(W)/Q(D)), vascular and epithelial permeability (assessed by simultaneous intravenous administration of 131I-labeled albumin and intraalveolar instillation of 125I-labeled albumin), alveolar liquid clearance (evaluated based on the increase in alveolar protein concentration), and lung liquid clearance (gravimetric method) were determined after 40 h exposure to either 100% or 21% O2. Exposure to hyperoxia caused increases in lung TBARS from 10.5 +/- 0.7 to 13.7 +/- 1.5 micromol/mg protein (p < 0.05); in blood hemoglobin concentration (Hb) from 14 +/- 1 g/dl to 17 +/- 1 g/dl (p < 0.05); in the Q(W)/Q(D) ratio from 4.02 +/- 0.3 to 5.31 +/- 0.5 (p < 0.05); and in alveolar-arterial oxygen tension difference from 124 +/- 14 mm Hg to 241 +/- 61 mm Hg (p < 0.05); as well as a decrease in blood pressure, from 131 +/- 15 mm Hg to 72 +/- 26 mm Hg (p < 0.05). Hyperoxia also increased vascular albumin leakage and moderately altered epithelial barrier permeability to protein. Inhalation of 10 ppm NO prevented the increases in TBARS and Q(W)/Q(D), had no effect on the alveolar barrier impermeability to protein, and improved alveolar liquid clearance. Inhalation of 100 ppm NO did not alter the increases in TBARS and Q(W)/Q(D) but increased vascular permeability to protein. Survival of rats exposed to hyperoxia was not improved by inhaled NO. Treatment with L-NAME or aminoguanidine reduced survival. L-NAME, but not aminoguanidine, increased lung TBARs. These results suggest that, depending on its concentration, inhaled NO can either reduce or increase the early consequences of hyperoxic lung injury. Treatment with L-NAME, and to a lesser extent aminoguanidine, worsened hyperoxic lung injury, indicating a protective effect of endogenous NO.

Protein tyrosine phosphatases mediate cell readhesion in alveolar epithelial cells mechanically separated from in vitro matrix.

Alveolar epithelial type II cells are the progenitor cells for restoring the alveolar epithelial barrier after acute lung injury. During repair of lung injury, the alveolar epithelial type II cells reepithelialize denuded air spaces, a process that involves breaking and reforming cell adhesions. A novel technique of mechanical separation of cultured alveolar epithelial cells from in vitro matrix was used to examine the intracellular signals that result when alveolar epithelial cell adhesions are broken. The results show that the tyrosine phosphorylation levels of focal adhesion kinase, paxillin, and pp60(src) decreased immediately after mechanical separation of the cells. Levels returned to nearly normal by 24 h after mechanical separation. Paxillin and pp60(scr) coprecipitated with focal adhesion kinase regardless of their phosphorylation state. Interestingly, the tyrosine phosphorylation level of the mitogen-activated protein kinase, p42(erk2), increased 15 min after mechanical separation. Preincubation of cell monolayers with phenylarsine oxide, a protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, blocked the decrease in tyrosine phosphorylation levels of focal adhesion kinase, paxillin and pp60(src). Phenylarsine oxide incubation also prevented readhesion of mechanically separated cells at 24 h, but genistein, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, had no effect. We conclude that protein tyrosine phosphatases are activated immediately after cultured alveolar epithelial cells are mechanically separated from in vitro matrix, and their activation is required for alveolar epithelial cell readhesion.

Alveolar epithelial fluid clearance mechanisms are intact after moderate hyperoxic lung injury in rats.

The capacity of the alveolar epithelial barrier to remove excess alveolar fluid from the airspaces of the lung was studied in an experimental model of moderate hyperoxic lung injury. Rats were exposed to 100% oxygen for 40 h in an exposure chamber and compared with control animals exposed to room air. Extravascular lung water was calculated gravimetrically. Alveolar and lung liquid clearance were studied over 1 h by instillation of a 5% albumin solution with 1.5 microCi of 125I-labeled albumin (6 mL/kg into both lungs). The concentration of both the unlabeled and labeled albumin was used to calculate alveolar liquid clearance. Hyperoxic rats developed pulmonary edema, with a 33% increase in extravascular lung water to 5.3 +/- 0.1 g of water per gram of dry lung, compared with 4.0 +/- 0.2 g of water per gram of dry lung in control rats (p < 0.05). This degree of edema was associated with a significant increase in the alveolar-arterial oxygen difference (241 +/- 61 vs 124 +/- 14 mm Hg in control animals exposed to room air, p < 0.05). Despite this moderate degree of lung injury, alveolar fluid clearance was normal (30 +/- 3%) compared with control rats (33 +/- 6%). Furthermore, the hyperoxic injured rats responded normally to an exogenous beta-adrenergic agonist (terbutaline, 10(-4) mol/L) with a 67% increase in the rate of alveolar liquid clearance (50 +/- 5%). Thus, in the setting of moderate hyperoxic lung injury, the alveolar epithelial barrier is still capable of removing fluid at a normal rate and responding to beta-adrenergic agonist treatment. These experimental results have potential clinical implications for patients with acute lung injury.

Acute bacterial pneumonia in rats increases alveolar epithelial fluid clearance by a tumor necrosis factor-alpha-dependent mechanism.

To study the rate and regulation of alveolar fluid clearance in acute pneumonia, we created a model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia in rats. To measure alveolar liquid and protein clearance, we instilled into the airspaces a 5% bovine albumin solution with 1.5 microCi of 125I-human albumin, 24 h after intratracheal instillation of bacteria. The concentration of unlabeled and labeled protein in the distal airspaces over 1 h was used as an index of net alveolar fluid clearance. Since there was histologic evidence of alveolar epithelial injury, several methods were used to measure alveolar fluid clearance, including the use of experiments in rats with blood flow and the use of experiments in rats without blood flow, so that movement across the epithelial barrier would be minimized in the latter group. The results with each method were identical. We found that P. aeruginosa pneumonia increased alveolar liquid clearance over 1 h by 48% in studies with blood flow, and by 43% in rats without blood flow, compared with respective controls (P < 0.05). In both studies, this increase was inhibited with amiloride. However, propranolol had no inhibitory effect, thus ruling out a catecholamine-dependent mechanism to explain the increase in alveolar fluid clearance. An antitumor necrosis factor-alpha neutralizing antibody, instilled into the lung 5 min before bacteria, prevented the increase in alveolar liquid clearance in rats with pneumonia (P < 0.05). Also, TNFalpha (5 microg) instilled in normal rats increased alveolar liquid clearance by 43% over 1 h compared with control rats (P < 0.05). In normal rats instilled with TNFalpha, propranolol had no inhibitory effect. In conclusion, gram-negative pneumonia markedly upregulates net alveolar epithelial fluid clearance, in part by a TNFalpha-dependent mechanism. This finding provides a novel mechanism for the upregulation of alveolar epithelial sodium and fluid transport from the distal airspaces of the lung.

Soluble and insoluble fibronectin increases alveolar epithelial wound healing in vitro.

Adhesive interactions between cells and extracellular matrix proteins are important in cell attachment, migration, and proliferation. The present work defines the role of fibronectin (soluble and insoluble) compared with type I and type IV collagen on in vitro alveolar epithelial wound healing. Repeated video microscopy experiments demonstrated that the half-time of wound closure was decreased in the presence of soluble fibronectin (6.6 +/- 2.1 vs. 17.4 +/- 0.8 h in serum-free medium, P < 0.05). Video microscopy, electron microscopy, and vinculin distribution demonstrated the contribution of two main events during the repair process: the migration of epithelial cell sheets and the spreading of the cells. During the wound healing, the internuclear distance between two adjacent cells at the migrating edge of the wound was significantly increased 10 h after wounding in the presence of soluble fibronectin (67 +/- 3.0 vs. 45 +/- 1.5 microns in serum-free medium, P < 0.05), indicating that cell spreading is involved as part of the mechanism for wound closure. Compared with type I and type IV collagen, insoluble fibronectin was the most potent stimulus for alveolar type II cell motility and wound healing in the absence of other serum factors. These results demonstrate that alveolar epithelial wound healing can be modulated in vitro by the composition of the extracellular matrix, an effect that may be mediated by changes in cell shape.

Alveolar endotoxin increases alveolar liquid clearance in rats.

Under some pathological conditions, ion transport across alveolar epithelial cells is downregulated, whereas under other pathological conditions, it may be upregulated. Because endotoxin is a biologically relevant pathological stimulus, we investigated the effect of endotoxin on alveolar epithelial liquid clearance in vivo. Escherichia coli endotoxin (220 micrograms/kg) was instilled into the lungs via the trachea of rats. Then, 24 or 40 h after endotoxin instillation, alveolar and lung liquid clearances were studied over 1 h by instillation of a 5% albumin solution with 1.5 microCi of 125I-labeled albumin (6 ml/kg into both lungs). Alveolar liquid clearance was significantly greater at 24 h (36 +/- 5%) and 40 h (38 +/- 7%) after endotoxin exposure than in saline-instilled controls (27 +/- 6%). Although there was an influx of neutrophils into the air space, there was no increase in lung epithelial permeability to protein at 24 or 40 h. Amiloride (2 x 10(-3) M), a sodium channel inhibitor, significantly reduced alveolar liquid clearance in the rats exposed to endotoxin. However, the increase in alveolar liquid clearance was not inhibited when propranolol (2 x 10(-5) M) was added to the 5% albumin solution. Thus exposure to alveolar endotoxin upregulates net alveolar fluid clearance in vivo for up to 40 h, a potentially important mechanism for accelerating alveolar fluid clearance under some pathological conditions. The increase in alveolar liquid clearance 24 and 40 h after instillation of endotoxin into the air spaces is mediated by an increased uptake of sodium through amiloride-sensitive sodium channels.

Alveolar liquid and protein clearance in anesthetized ventilated rats.

Alveolar and lung liquid clearances were studied over 1, 4, and 6 h in intact anesthetized ventilated rats by instillation of 5% albumin solution with 1.5 microCi of 125I-labeled albumin (3 ml/kg into 1 lung or 6 ml/kg into both lungs). Alveolar protein clearance as measured by residual 125I-albumin in the lung over 6 h was similar to the slow rates measured in other species. Alveolar liquid clearance was estimated by the concentration of albumin in the air spaces. After 1 h, this concentration was 7.8 +/- 0.7 g/dl, which was significantly greater than the initial protein concentration of 5.3 +/- 0.2 g/dl (P < 0.05). Amiloride (10(-3) M) inhibited 45% of the basal alveolar liquid clearance, and ouabain (10(-3) M), instilled and intravenously infused (0.004 mg), inhibited 30% of the clearance. beta-Adrenergic agonist instillation increased alveolar liquid clearance to the fastest 1-h rate (48 +/- 3% of instilled volume) that we observed in any intact species. The removal of the instilled fluid from the lung (expressed as lung liquid clearance; 0.96 +/- 0.3 ml/h) was twice as fast as the rate of alveolar and lung liquid clearance reported in the isolated or in situ rat lung models. The rate of alveolar and lung liquid clearance in these intact rats was significantly faster than those in prior studies in dogs and sheep and was similar to the rates in rabbits.