Alveolar type II (ATII) cells remain differentiated and express surfactant
proteins when cultured at an air-liquid (A/L) interface. When cultured under submerged
conditions, ATII cells dedifferentiate and change their gene expression profile. We have
previously shown that gene expression under submerged conditions is regulated by hypoxia
inducible factor (HIF) signaling due to focal hypoxia resulting from ATII cell metabolism.
Herein, we sought to further define gene expression changes in ATII cells cultured under
submerged conditions. We performed a genome wide microarray on RNA extracted from rat ATII
cells cultured under submerged conditions for 24–48 h after switching from an A/L
interface. We found significant alterations in gene expression, including upregulation of
the HIF target genes stanniocalcin-1 (STC1), tyrosine hydroxylase (Th), enolase (Eno) 2,
and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 13, and we verified upregulation of these genes by
RT-PCR. Because STC1, a highly evolutionarily conserved glycoprotein with
anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidant, and wound healing properties, is widely
expressed in the lung, we further explored the potential functions of STC1 in the alveolar
epithelium. We found that STC1 was induced by hypoxia and HIF in rat ATII cells, and this
induction occurred rapidly and reversibly. We also showed that recombinant human STC1
(rhSTC1) enhanced cell motility with extended lamellipodia formation in alveolar
epithelial cell (AEC) monolayers but did not inhibit the oxidative damage induced by LPS.
We also confirmed that STC1 was upregulated by hypoxia and HIF in human lung epithelial
cells. In this study, we have found that several HIF target genes including STC1 are
upregulated in AECs by a submerged condition, that STC1 is regulated by hypoxia and HIF,
that this regulation is rapidly and reversibly, and that STC1 enhances wound healing
moderately in AEC monolayers. However, STC1 did not inhibit oxidative damage in rat AECs
stimulated by LPS in vitro. Therefore, alterations in gene expression by
ATII cells under submerged conditions including STC1 were largely induced by hypoxia and
HIF, which may be relevant to our understanding of the pathogenesis of various lung
diseases in which the alveolar epithelium is exposed to relative hypoxia.