Physiological variables affecting surface film formation by native lamellar body-like pulmonary surfactant particles

•Pulmonary surfactant is directly collected from alveolar cell cultures.•Kinetics of surfactant adsorption at air–liquid interfaces is investigated.•Adsorption is sensitive to pH, temperature and protein interactions.•Multi-parameter analyses were performed using a custom-designed assay system.

Pulmonary surfactant (PS) is a surface active complex of lipids and proteins that prevents the alveolar structures from collapsing and reduces the work of breathing by lowering the surface tension at the alveolar air–liquid interface (ALI). Surfactant is synthesized by the alveolar type II (AT II) cells, and it is stored in specialized organelles, the lamellar bodies (LBs), as tightly packed lipid bilayers. Upon secretion into the alveolar lining fluid, a large fraction of these particles retain most of their packed lamellar structure, giving rise to the term lamellar body like-particles (LBPs). Due to their stability in aqueous media, freshly secreted LBPs can be harvested from AT II cell preparations. However, when LBPs get in contact with an ALI, they quickly and spontaneously adsorb into a highly organized surface film. In the present study we investigated the adsorptive capacity of LBPs at an ALI under relevant physiological parameters that characterize the alveolar environment in homeostatic or in pathological conditions. Adsorption of LBPs at an ALI is highly sensitive to pH, temperature and albumin concentration and to a relatively lesser extent to changes in osmolarity or Ca2 + concentrations in the physiological range. Furthermore, proteolysis of LBPs significantly decreases their adsorptive capacity confirming the important role of surfactant proteins in the formation of surface active films.

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