Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., Vol 16, No. 1, Jan 1997, 62-68.
Increased oxidative metabolism in cow tracheal epithelial cells cultured at air-liquid interface
M Kondo, J Tamaoki, A Sakai, S Kameyama, S Kanoh and K Konno
First Department of Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical College, Japan.
Airway epithelial cells cultured at the air-liquid interface possess highly
differentiated functions and structures compared with the cells cultured
under immersion. We examined the oxidative metabolism and glycolysis in cow
tracheal epithelial cells on Days 3, 6, 10, and 13, cultured under three
different conditions: (1) immersion culture on porous filters with apical
and basolateral feeding (IM), (2) air- exposed culture on porous filters
with basolateral feeding, i.e., air- liquid interface culture (AI), and (3)
conventional immersion culture in plastic dishes with apical feeding (DI).
Lactate production was less in AI than in IM and DI on Day 3 through Day
13, whereas cellular adenosine triphosphate content and basal O2
consumption were greater. Ouabain-sensitive and ouabain-insensitive O2
consumption, and the uncoupled O2 consumption were also greater in AI.
Cytosolic lactate dehydrogenase activities on Day 10 were lower in AI,
whereas alpha- ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activities were higher. The
increased oxidative metabolism in AI was more pronounced at the late phase
of culture (Days 10 and 13). In contrast, glycolysis remained elevated
during the experiment in IM and DI. These data suggest that (I) AI begins
to promote oxidative metabolism from growth phase by the provision of
adequate oxygenation, and then further shifts to oxidative metabolism with
differentiation; and (2) apical feeding may be responsible for the
disturbance of the development of the oxidative metabolism.
