Lung Phospholipids in the Embryonic and Immature Chicken: Changes in Lipid Composition and Biosynthesis During Maturation of the Surfactant System
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THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY 22031-80 (1982) Lung Phospholipids in the Embryonic and Immature Chicken: Changes in Lipid Composition and Biosynthesis During Maturation of the Surfactant System VINCENT W. HYLKA AND BYRON A. DONEEN Division of Biological Sciences, Department ofZoology, University ofMichigan, Ann Arbor. Michigan 48109 ABSTRACT Total phospholipid and its components were measured in lungs of the embryonic chick, and in tissue, lamellar bodies, and lavage fluid after hatching. Phosphatidylcholine (PC), the major phospholipid in surfactant, was fractionated and the amount and fatty acid composition of its disaturated (DSPC) component was determined. The synthetic rates of PC. DSPC, and other choline phospholipids were determined on days 14 and 19 of incubation from incorporation of "C-choline. Choline pool size was also estimated at these times. Phospholipid content of the lung increased most rapidly after day 18of incubation with the greatest increase in PC. The PC synthesized just prior to breathing was enriched in DSPC, which constituted 45% of PC on day 19 and only 30% on day 14. DSPC content was even lower in embryonic liver and yolk. Incorporation of I4C-cholinein vitro into pulmonary PC, Sphingomyelin (Sphingo),and DSPC was greater in birds before breathing (day 19) than in the younger embryos. Choline pool size decreased between days 14 and 19 of incubation, but the synthetic rate of DSPC doubled in this interval. Increased accumulation and biosynthesis of pulmonary PC, Sphingo, and DSPC in lung tissue of the embryo paralleled ap- pearance of lamellar bodies. In 5-6-week-old chickens the major pulmonary phospholipid was also DSPC. In lavage, 70% of PC was DSPC, predominantly dipalmitoyl PC. As in the mammalian lung, PC,especially its DSPC component, forms the major phospholipid of avian surfactant, and the synthesis of DSPC is specifically stimulated prior to breathing. The gasexchanging surface of the mammal- as measured by its capacity to synthesize and ian lung is lined with surfactant. By lowering secrete surfactant phospholipid, depends upon surface tension, surfactant prevents alveolar certain hormones (reviewed by Smith and collapse, reduces work expended in lung Bogues, '80; Hitchcock, '80; Ballard '81). expansion, and inhibits transddation of fluid As air capillaries in the avian lung are into air spaces (Levine and Mellins, '75; Van strengthened by connective tissue (Duncker, Golde, '76). Mammalian lung surfactant "71), this structure is more rigid than the mam- consists largely of phospholipid (85% by malian lung. The bird lung, therefore, might weight), and this is predominantly (70-80%) appear to have little requirement for a surface- phosphatidylcholine (PC) (honey, '79). The active lining. Ultrastructural examination, major surface-active component of surfactant however, revealed an osmiophilic lining in air is dipalmitoyl PC (containing two 16:O fatty spaces of the chicken, goose, and turkey (Tyler acids), which forms 60-70% of PC in lung lav- and Pangborn, '64; Lambson and Cohn, '68; age (Van Golde, '76). Lung surfactant is syn- Petrik and Riedel, '68a, b; Fujiwara et al., '70). thesized and stored in lamellar bodies, organ- This lining seems to be quite similar in bio- elles characteristic of type I1 pneumocytes chemistry and in function to mammalian sur- (Williams, '77). Maturation of the type I1 cell factant. Composition of major pulmonary 0022-104X/82/2201-0071$03.000 1982 ALAN R. LISS. INC. 72 V.W. HYLKA AND B.A. DONEEN phospholipids in the adult bird is nearly identi- before onset of ventilation, taking account of cal with mammalian lung (Harlan et al., '66; differences in choline pool size. Fujiwara et al., '70). Lung lavages from adult MATERIALS AND METHODS birds contain secreted surfactant, and these washings display a lipid composition and sur- Animals face tension properties similar to those of Fertilized eggs (Rhode Island Red X White mammals (Fujiwara et al., '70). Lamellar bod- Leghorn) were obtained from a local distribu- ies have also been identified in type I1 pneumo- tor (Dave's Eggs and Poultry, Ann Arbor, cytes of the avian pulmonary epithelium Michigan), and incubated at 37.7 f 0.7" in a (Dameron and Marin, '70; Marin et al. '78), and forced-draft, rocking incubator. Hatched buds these organelles are enriched in PC (Marin et were kept on a 12D:12L cycle and fed commer- al., '79). Pattle ('65, '78) and Duncker ('71, '78) cial poultry feed and water ad libitum. Onset of have proposed that structural rigidity of avian breathing in embryos was determined by ob- lung and pulmonary surfactant both promote serving whether pipping had occurred or if the distention of narrow air capillaries. Thus, ap beak was in the air space. In this study, all em pearance of surfactant in the embryonic bird bryos at 20 days of incubation had begun lung lung prior to the onset of ventilation may be as ventilation, whereas those at 19 days or crucial for hatching as it is for the birth of younger had not commenced breathing. mammals. The work of Tordet and Marin ('76) on the Lipid isolation and analysis embryonic chicken lung has emphasized the on- Tissues were rapidly dissected, blotted, togeny of two major classes of lung phospho- weighed, and quick-frozen in a dry-ice-ethanol lipids, PC and phosphatidylethanolamine(PE). bath. Yolk was obtained by pipetting a 300 pl These investigators (Marin et al., '79) also aliquot from the yolk sac, being careful to showed that PC content was enriched in avian avoid blood contamination. Tissues and yolk lung lavage and isolated lamellar bodies. In were stored at -25°C until analyzed. both studies, the major surface-active Total lipids were extracted by homogeniza- component of PC (i.e., DSPC) and other minor, tion with 20 volumes of ch1oroform:methanol though important, surfactant lipids (i.e., (21) according to the method of Folch et al. phosphatidylglycerol:PG, phosphatidylinosi- ('57). Total extracted fat was measured gravi- tol:PI, and Sphingomyelin: Sphingo) were not metrically following evaporation of solvent measured. Earlier work has also shown that in- and overnight desiccation in vacuo over KOH. corporation of I4C-cholineinto PC increases in In experiments involving choline incorpora- the bird lung prior to hatching (Compton and tion, an aliquot of the ch1oroform:methanol Goeringer, '81), but the significance of this homogenate was used for measurement of pro- conclusion must be questioned because the tein using bovine serum albumin as standard size and specific activity of the pulmonary cho- (Lowry et al., '51). line pool were not determined during onto- Individual phospholipid classes were ob- geny. Finally, no data are available to deter- tained by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) mine if lipid composition and certain pathways using Whatman LK5D precoated silica gel of phospholipid synthesis are unique to the plates. Lipid samples (500-900 pg) were applied developing lung as seems to be the case in the to TLC plates in a nitrogen atmosphere with mammal (Van Golde, '76). This information is standards run in parallel. Phospholipids were essential in view of the totally different pat- separated using ch1oroform:methanol:water tern of fat metabolism in the avian embryo (65:35:5, solvent system I)or ch1oroform:meth- which relies ultimately on stored yolk for lipid anol: 0.25CToKCl: 2-propano1:triethylamine(30: precursors (Doneen, '81). This paper fills major 9:6:25:18, solvent system 11) (Touchstone et gaps in our understanding of lung lipid metab- al., '80). Solvent system I1 was utilized for olism in the developing bird lung by presenting better separation of PE from PG, and of phos- a more complete analysis of lung phospholip phatidylserine (PS) from PI. Phospholipids ids (including DSPC) in the chick during were identified on TLC plates by comparision development. It also reports the distribution with standards after staining with iodine va- of DSPC in embryonic lung, liver, and yolk, por (solvent system I),or from UV fluorescence and in lavage and isolated lamellar bodies from after heating plates (1 h at 180°C, solvent breathing chickens. Finally, we have deter- system 11). Individual phospholipids were mined actual rates of biosynthesis of pul- scraped from TLC plates into glass-stoppered monary PC and DSPC early in incubation and tubes, and eluted at 55°C in ethanokhloro- LUNG PHOSPHOLIPIDS IN CHICK EMBRYO 73 form:water:acetic acid ( 100:30: 20: 2) (Biezen- prepared as previously described (Heath and ski, '64). Recoveries ranged from 95% to 99%. Jacobson, '76). The twice-washed pellet was di- Lipid phosphorous in individual phospholipids luted to 8.5 ml with homogenization buffer, and extract was determined according to Bart- one half layered onto 8.5 ml of 0.75 M sucrose, lett ('59)after digestion with 400 p1 of 72% per- 0.05 M Tris-Hcl, pH 7.05, and centrifuged at chloric acid for 1 h at 220°C. Saturated 90,OOOg for 2.8h. The material located at the phospholipids were isolated according to the 0.25-0.75 M sucrose interface was collected, procedure of Mason et al. ('76).Approximately diluted to 10 ml with homogenization buffer, 1 mg of lipid was reacted with 500 pl of 6.2 and centrifuged at 10,OOOg for 30 min. The mg/ml OsO, in CCL; saturated neutral and resulting pellet was resuspended in 8 ml of phospholipids were separated using column 0.154 M KCl and centrifuged at 20,OOOg for 30 chromatography (neutral alumina; BioRad, min. Portions of this final pellet (lamellar AG7,lOO-200 mesh). Saturated phospholipids bodies), as well as the more dense pellet ob- were further separated by TLC using solvent tained by centrifugation at 9O,OOOg, were fixed system 11. Recovery of DL-a-dipalmitoyl phos- for electron microscopy. The remaining mater- phatidylcholine standard (Sigma)from column ial was frozen at - 25 "C and analyzed for lipids and thin-layer chromatography was 96-98%.