A B S T R A C T Previous studies from our laboratory indicated that both beta-adrenergic and cholinergic agents stimulate in vivo secretion by rat bronchiolar Clara cells. Those studies also provided support for an in-series beta-adrenergic-cholinergic stimulation of secretion. To further explore the regulation of secretion in Clara cells, and to do it in the absence of systemic influences, we have used the isolated ventilated perfused rat lung. We have again used morphometry and electron microscopy to assess secretion by measuring the volume density (fraction of cell volume) of the secretory granules of bronchiolar Clara cells. We found that in the isolated perfused lung, as in the intact animal, isoproterenol stimulated secretion in Clara cells and that this effect was blocked by the betaadrenergic antagonist propranolol. Pilocarpine, unlike its action in the intact animal, did not stimulate secretion in the isolated lung; rather it inhibited the secretory effect of isoproterenol. Increased tidal-volume ventilation stimulated secretion; propranolol did not block this effect. Analogs of cyclic (c)AMP and of cGMP also stimulated secretion by Clara cells. These findings indicate that there are at least two mechanisms by which Clara cells can be stimulated to secrete. One seems to be beta-adrenergic-cAMP mediated but the triggering event is unknown. The other is initiated by increased tidal volume and cGMP may be involved in the intracellular mediation ofthis stimulatory event. Finally, we found evidence of beta-adrenergic

This study investigates the use of the isolated perfused lung to study protein degradation. Proteins were labeled in vivo for 10 min or for 5 h using L-[U-14C]phenylalanine. When prelabeled lungs were perfused in vitro virtually all of the acid-soluble and acid-insoluble radioactivity in the tissue and perfusate remained as phenylalanine. Protein degradation was measured as the accumulation of free [14C]phenylalanine in ther perfusate; during the time this accumulated the amount of intracellular free phenylalanine and the free phenylalanine space remained constant. Proteins labeled during 10 min had a constant rate of degradation between 45 and 90 min of perfusion (about 11%.h-1); those labeled during 5 h had a constant rate of degradation for 90 (about 3%.h-1). The percent dry lung weight did not change during the perfusion. We conclude that measurable rates of proteolysis of "rapid" and "slowly" turning over proteins can be obtained while the lung is virtually free of edema. This system should allow studies on the modulation of proteolysis in intact lung under defined conditions.

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We labeled proteins with [14C]phenylalanine in rats breathing air and assessed the rate of proteolysis in the isolated ventilated lung by measuring the accumulation of [14C]phenylalanine in the medium perfusing the lung. Ventilation with 0% O2 decreased the rate of proteolysis and the ATP content in the lung 60%. Medium from lungs ventilated with 0% O2, when used to perfuse lungs ventilated with 95% O2, decreased the rate of proteolysis 60% without lowering the ATP content of the lung. Correcting the pH of "used" medium or dialyzing used medium did not decrease its ability to inhibit proteolysis. Used medium from nonhypoxic lungs, or exogenous lactate (50 mM), diminished proteolysis only 20%. In a cell-free system the degradation by cathepsin D of radioactive lung proteins and radioactive hemoglobin was decreased by used medium from hypoxic lungs. We conclude that the hypoxic perfused lung releases a factor(s) that decreases the rate of proteolysis in nonhypoxic lungs and that this factor may be a protease inhibitor.

We used the isolated perfused lung to study protein degradation. Proteins were labeled in vivo during 10 min (fast) or 5 h (slow). The absence of exogenous amino acids lowered the rate of proteolysis of fast but not of slowly turning over proteins. Addition of normal rat plasma levels of amino acids, after 45 min of perfusion without amino acids, returned the rate of proteolysis to control levels. The absence of exogenous glucose increased the rate of degration of rapidly turning over proteins but decreased the degradation rate of slowly turning over proteins. These changes took place in the absence of any measurable effect of amino acids or glucose on the amount of lung water, the rate of perfusate flow, the lung concentration of ATP or the intracellular concentration of free phenylalanine. We conclude that these substrates influence proteolysis in our system and that the degradation of rapidly and slowly turning over proteins are regulated independently in the isolated perfused lung.