Abstract
Mechanical ventilation with a high tidal volume results in lung injury that is characterized by blebbing and breaks both between and through alveolar epithelial cells. We developed an in vitro model to simulate ventilator-induced deformation of the alveolar basement membrane and to investigate, in a direct manner, epithelial cell responses to deforming forces. Taking advantage of the novel fluorescent properties of BODIPY lipids and the fluorescent dye FM1-43, we have shown that mechanical deformation of alveolar epithelial cells results in lipid transport to the plasma membrane. Deformation-induced lipid trafficking (DILT) was a vesicular process, rapid in onset, and was associated with a large increase in cell surface area. DILT could be demonstrated in all cells; however, only a small percentage of cells developed plasma membrane breaks that were reversible and nonlethal. Therefore, DILT was not only involved in site-directed wound repair but might also have served as a cytoprotective mechanism against plasma membrane stress failure. This study suggests that DILT is a regulatory mechanism for membrane trafficking in alveolar epithelia and provides a novel biological framework within which to consider alveolar deformation injury and repair.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | L938-L946 |
Journal | American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology |
Volume | 280 |
Issue number | 5 25-5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2001 |
Keywords
- BODIPY lipids
- Deforming stress
- Lung injury
- Mechanical ventilation
- Plasma membrane
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
- Physiology (medical)
- Cell Biology