The effects of mechanical stretching on fetal rat lung cell prostacyclin production.

A model system was used to determine the effect of stretch on prostacyclin (PGI) production by organotypic fetal rat lung cultures grown on gelatin foam in vitro, measured by RIA of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha (6KF) in the culture medium. The stretching apparatus was programmable for stretch of varying frequency and duration. The effective stimuli for PGI production were: continuous pulsatile stretch greater than intermittent pulsatile stretch greater than permanent stretch (p less than 0.

Transferrin gene expression and transferrin immunolocalization in developing foetal rat lung.

In previous studies we have shown that transferrin (Tf) specifically stimulates dermatan- and chondroitin-sulphate proteoglycan accumulation around lung cells, and in the extracellular matrix of lung tissue, in vitro. The aim of this study was to determine whether the gene for Tf was activated in specific lung cells during development, and whether the protein product showed evidence of association with extracellular matrix. The expression of the gene in developing lung was shown by the hybridization of a Tf cDNA to a 2.

Interaction between prostacyclin and cortisol in fetal lung cells: effects on cAMP production.

Glucocorticoids secreted by the fetal adrenal, or administered for therapeutic reasons, stimulate fetal lung maturation in the human and other species. Prostacyclin, produced within the lung may be another agent with maturational effects. In this investigation we have demonstrated that glucocorticoids interact with lung cells and increase their response to a prostacyclin analogue (Iloprost, PGIp).