A stereologic electron microscope study of ?tubular myelin figures? in alveolar fluids of rat lungs

Weibel, Ewald R.; Kistler, Gonzague S.; Töndury, Gian

doi:10.1007/bf00406293

Cited by 100 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The surfactant components are stored intracellularly in dense, multilayered membrane structures, the lamellar bodies [15]. The lamellar body content is excreted into the alveoli, and is there converted [18][19][20] to a lattice-like structure of tubular lipid doublelayers, called tubular myelin [21,22]. Tubular myelin is the main intra-alveolar reservoir of surfactant [23], from which the monolayer at the air/liquid interface is eventually formed [24].…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The proteins of the surfactant system

Johansson¹,

Curstedt²,

Robertson³

1994

Eur Respir J

204

143

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T Th he e p pr ro ot te ei in ns s o of f t th he e s su ur rf fa ac ct ta an nt t s sy ys st te em m SP-B is a 79-residue polypeptide that contains three intrachain disulphide bridges. It exists mainly as a homodimer, which is strongly positively charged and may selectively remove anionic and unsaturated lipid species from the alveolar surface film, thereby increasing surface pressure.SP-C is a mainly α-helical, extraordinarily hydrophobic polypeptide containing 35 amino acid residues and covalently linked palmitoyl groups. Its α-helical portion is inserted into surfactant lipid bilayers. SP-C accelerates the adsorption of lipid bilayers to an interfacial monolayer. In babies with respiratory distress syndrome, the clinical response to treatment with surfactant containing SP-B and SP-C is much faster than in babies treated with protein-free synthetic surfactant.We speculate that, in the near future, surfactant preparations based on recombinant hydrophobic proteins will be available for clinical use.

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Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The proteins of the surfactant system

Johansson¹,

Curstedt²,

Robertson³

1994

Eur Respir J

204

143

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other electron micrographs have been published in which a thin superficial osmiophilic layer extends over an amorphous subphase (2,15). The phospholipid-containing latticelike structures known as tubular myelin (16) seen at the surface of the extracellular lining in Figure 2, are often found in the alveoli. Their function within the lining is not known.…”

Section: The Extracellular Liningmentioning

confidence: 97%

Secretory Cells of the Peripheral Pulmonary Epithelium as Targets for Toxic Agents

Hook¹,

DiAugustine²

1976

Environmental Health Perspectives

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“…In the secretory granules (lamellar bodies) of the alveolar type II epithelial cells, which synthesize and secrete surfactant components, the material presents as closely stacked bilayers (75). When secreted into the alveolar liquid, the lamellar body contents hydrate and rearrange into the remarkable tubular myelin form that, in cross section, resembles a pile of square hot dogs lying underneath the liquid surface (73). Occasionally, an electron micrograph shows continuity between an osmiophilic layer in the tubular myelin and the layer at the air-liquid interface (30), suggesting that the surface film can form from tubular myelin.…”

Section: Development Of the Science Of Lung Surfactant And Its Clinicmentioning

confidence: 99%

LUNG SURFACTANT: A Personal Perspective

Clements

1997

Annu. Rev. Physiol.

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This perspective tells the story of the discovery, characterization, and understanding of the surfactant system of the lung; of how investigators from many disciplines studied the system, stimulated by the demonstration of surfactant deficiency in respiratory distress syndrome of the newborn; and of how the resulting knowledge formed a basis for highly successful surfactant substitution treatment for this syndrome. The chapter includes personal reminiscences and reflections of the author and ends with a few thoughts about the present status and future prospects of this field of research. PrologueWhen the editor of the Annual Review of Physiology invited me to write a perspective on lung surfactant, I had serious misgivings. I had just finished preparing a historical chapter on the subject for the American Physiological Society's series People and Ideas (18), and I was also a bit concerned about intruding my own story. I decided finally to write a perspective that would include information and commentary on the development of the field and some autobiographical material. This chapter is not intended to be prefatory to other chapters on respiratory physiology in this volume. Because the People and Ideas chapter treated the background and early history of the field at length, this one covers those aspects in less detail. Discovery of Lung Surfactant and Its Clinical SignificanceFor over a century, students of physiology were taught that breathing consists of an alternating balance between the force of the respiratory muscles and the elastic recoil of the chest wall and lung tissue. During quiet breathing, the 1 0066-4278/97/0315-0001$08.00 Annu. Rev. Physiol. 1997.59:1-21 As it happened, I was serving my two years of military duty as a medical officer at the Medical Laboratories, and one of my assignments was to monitor the Harvard contract. That may sound like a dull job, but it turned out to be pure joy. The research was so fine, and Jere Mead was such a wonderful, enthusiastic, open kind of scientist, that I was in heaven discussing the work with him and his colleagues. Here was I, a neophyte in respiratory physiology, admitted into the inner council of leaders in the field. I knew their thinking long before it was published, and it was they who first aroused my interest in the problem of surface tension in the pulmonary alveoli. Before I could understand it, though, I had to study some fundamental concepts, such as the nature of surface tension, the operation of surfactants, and the meaning of Laplace's relationship.Surface tension is the tendency of a liquid surface to contract due to the cohesive forces between the molecules in and near the surface. These forces are enormous, about 13 orders of magnitude greater than the force of the earth's gravity on the molecules. Unlike gravity, which acts over huge distances, cohesive forces are significant only between molecules that are almost touching. The stronger the attractive forces, the greater the tendency of the surface to shrink. If the system permits ...

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A stereologic electron microscope study of ?tubular myelin figures? in alveolar fluids of rat lungs

Cited by 100 publications

References 11 publications

The proteins of the surfactant system

The proteins of the surfactant system

Secretory Cells of the Peripheral Pulmonary Epithelium as Targets for Toxic Agents

LUNG SURFACTANT: A Personal Perspective

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