[PDF][PDF] Pulmonary surfactant and its apoproteins.

S Hawgood, JA Clements - The Journal of clinical …, 1990 - Am Soc Clin Investig
S Hawgood, JA Clements
The Journal of clinical investigation, 1990Am Soc Clin Investig
This reduction to practice does not mean, however, that the research on pulmonary
surfactant is completed. Many questions about its functions remain unanswered, particularly
those mediated by its apoproteins, and these are the main subject of this essay. But first, the
complex nature of the sur-factant deserves comment. Heterogeneity ofpulmonary surfactant
It is well known that lung surfactant as commonly isolated contains many kinds of molecules:
phospholipids, cholesterol, other neutral lipids, and many proteins (8). It is not so often …
This reduction to practice does not mean, however, that the research on pulmonary surfactant is completed. Many questions about its functions remain unanswered, particularly those mediated by its apoproteins, and these are the main subject of this essay. But first, the complex nature of the sur-factant deserves comment.
Heterogeneity ofpulmonary surfactant It is well known that lung surfactant as commonly isolated contains many kinds of molecules: phospholipids, cholesterol, other neutral lipids, and many proteins (8). It is not so often pointed out that thesurfactant is also morphologically and functionally heterogeneous (9)(see Fig. 1) and that differences in form and activity correlate with apoprotein content (9, 10). When stored in the lamellar bodies ofthe alveolar type II cells, the surfactant is tightly packed in multilayer arrays. Upon secretion and hydration in the alveolar lining liquid, it expands into a complicated, latticelike structure called tubular myelin, from which the interfacial monolayer appears to spread (1 1).
The Journal of Clinical Investigation