The protection of cells in the upper intestine against digestion by pancreatic trypsin depends on the prostanoid prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and is mediated by protease-activated receptors in the epithelium. As the airway epithelium is morphologically similar and also expresses one of these receptors, PAR2, and is a major source of PGE2, we reasoned that bronchial epithelial PAR2 might also participate in prostanoid-dependent cytoprotection in the airways. Here we show that activation of PAR2, which co-localizes immunohistochemically with trypsin(ogen) in airway epithelium, causes the relaxation of airway preparations from mouse, rat, guinea-pig and humans by the release of a cyclooxygenase product from the epithelium. This physiological protective response in isolated airways also occurred in anaesthetized rats, where activation of PAR2 caused a marked and prolonged inhibition of bronchoconstriction. After desensitization of PAR2, the response to trypsin recovered rapidly by mechanisms dependent on de novo synthesis and trafficking of proteins. Our results indicate that trypsin released from the epithelium can initiate powerful bronchoprotection in the airways by activation of epithelial PAR2.

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Freshly isolated human adipocytes showed specific uptake of 125I-labeled human high density lipoprotein (HDL2 and HDL3), a portion of which could be released by subsequent incubation with excess unlabeled ligand. To study the

Abdominal obesity is related to reduced plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and both are associated with cardiovascular disease risk. We have observed that plasma membranes from abdominal subcutaneous adipocytes have a greater HDL binding capacity than omental fat cell plasma membranes. The present study examined whether these binding characteristics could be due to differences in fat cell size or cholesterol concentration between the two adipose depots. Abdominal subcutaneous and deep omental fat were obtained from massively obese patients at surgery. Subcutaneous abdominal fat cells were significantly larger and their cellular cholesterol content greater than omental adipocytes. The uptake of HDL by collagenase-isolated fat cells was studied by incubating the cells for 2 h at 37 degrees C with 10 micrograms/ml 125I-HDL2 or 125I-HDL3. In both depots, the cellular uptake of 125I-HDL2 and 125I-HDL3 was specifically inhibited by addition of 25-fold excess unlabeled HDL and a close correlation was observed between the cellular uptake of 125I-HDL2 and 125I-HDL3. In obese patients, the uptake of 125I-HDL was higher in subcutaneous cells than in omental cells [5.85 +/- 0.53 vs. 2.74 +/- 0.30 pmol X 2 h-1. (10(6) cells)-1]. The cellular 125I-HDL uptake was significantly correlated with adipocyte size and fat cell cholesterol content but not with adipocyte cholesterol concentration. These results suggest that the higher HDL uptake observed in subcutaneous cells compared with omental cells in obesity is the result of differences in adipocyte size rather than differences in the cholesterol concentration (cholesterol-to-triglyceride ratio).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In humans, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol ester turnover exceeds that of HDL apoproteins by severalfold or more, suggesting an independent catabolic fate of these constituents. The present study investigated the cellular uptake and dissociation of HDL labeled in its apoproteins with 125I and in its cholesterol ester with [3H]cholesteryl palmityl ether, a nonhydrolyzable cholesterol ester analogue. Approximately 50% of cell-associated 125I-HDL2 and 125I-HDL3 was released from prelabeled adipose cells by incubating the latter in the presence or absence of unlabeled lipoproteins for 2 h. The uptake of HDL-cholesterol ester by human fat cells as reflected by [3H]cholesteryl palmityl ether was 5-18 times greater than that predicted from the uptake of 125I-HDL2 and 125I-HDL3 and was irreversible. Analysis of dissociated 125I-HDL3 demonstrated changes to both higher and lower density fractions compared with the starting material. There was a high correlation between the cellular uptake of HDL3-cholesterol ester and HDL3-apoprotein uptakes (r = 0.90, P less than 0.01), suggesting that HDL-cholesterol ester uptake requires a specific apoprotein interaction or binding step. The selective uptake and retention of HDL-cholesterol ester by isolated adipocytes implies that human fat tissue may play a role in regulating the lipid composition of plasma HDL.