XXXX bronchial epithelial cells modulate collagen gel contraction by fibroblasts.

@entity1 @entity8173 @entity82 @entity2918 @entity2533 @entity6474 @entity1030 @entity3352
Connective tissue contraction is an important aspect of both normal wound healing and @entity82 . This process may contribute to small airway narrowing associated with certain @entity1030 . Fibroblast-mediated contraction of a three-dimensional collagen gel has been considered a model of tissue contraction. In this study, the ability of primary cultured @entity1 bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) obtained by bronchial brushings to modulate fibroblast gel contraction was evaluated. @entity1 lung fibroblasts ( @entity8173 ) were cast into type I collagen gels. The gels were floated both in dishes containing a monolayer of HBEC or in dishes without HBEC. Contraction assessed by measuring the area of gels was increased at all time points from 24 h up to 96 h of coculture. At 48 h, coculture of HBEC with fibroblasts resulted in significantly more contraction than fibroblasts alone (36.6 +/- 1.2 vs. 20.4 +/- 1.7%, P < 0.05). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 micrograms/ml) stimulation of the HBEC augmented the contraction (44.9 +/- 1.0%, P < 0.05 vs. HBEC). In the presence of @entity3352 , the augmentation by LPS was increased further (52.2 +/- 4.3%, P < 0.05 vs. HBEC with LPS), suggesting that @entity2918 (PGs) are present and may inhibit contraction. Consistent with this, PGE was present in HBEC-conditioned medium. Bronchial epithelial cell conditioned medium had an effect similar to coculturing. SG-150 column chromatography revealed augmentive activity between 20 and 30 kDa and inhibitory activity between 10 and 20 kDa. Measurement by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed the presence of the active form of @entity6474 . The stimulatory activity of conditioned medium was blocked by adding anti- @entity2533 antibody. These data demonstrate that, through the release of factors including @entity6474 which can augment and PGE which can inhibit, HBEC can modulate fibroblast-mediated collagen gel contraction. In this manner, HBEC may modulate fibroblast activities that determine the architecture of bronchial tissue.
