Abstract

Receptors for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) are multi-ligand cell surface receptors highly expressed in the lung that modulate pulmonary inflammation during disease. However, the contributions of RAGE signaling are unknown during pulmonary organogenesis. In order to test the hypothesis that RAGE misexpression adversely affects lung morphogenesis, conditional transgenic mice were generated that over-express RAGE in alveolar type II cells of the lung. When RAGE is over-expressed throughout embryogenesis, severe lung hypoplasia ensues, culminating in perinatal lethality. Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry employing cell-specific markers for various distal cell types demonstrated anomalies in key epithelial cell populations resulting from RAGE up-regulation through embryonic (E) 18.5. Electron microscopy also identified significant morphological disturbances to distal cell types including separation from the basement membrane. Possible mechanisms leading to the disappearance of pulmonary tissue by increased RAGE expression were then evaluated. A time course of lung organogenesis commencing at E12.5 demonstrated that increased RAGE expression primarily alters lung morphogenesis beginning at E16.5. TUNEL immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting for active caspase-3 confirm a shift toward apoptosis in lungs from RAGE over-expressing mice when compared to wild type controls. Assaying for NF-κB also revealed elevated nuclear translocation in lungs from transgenic mice compared to controls. An RT-PCR assessment of genes regulated by NF-κB demonstrated elevated expression of Fas ligand, suggesting increased activity of the Fas-mediated signal transduction pathway in which ligand-receptor interaction triggers cell death. These data provide evidence that RAGE expression must be tightly regulated during organogenesis. Furthermore, additional elucidation of RAGE signaling potentially involved in branching morphogenesis and cell cycle abnormalities may provide insight into the progression of RAGE-mediated lung diseases.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Life Sciences; Physiology and Developmental Biology

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2012-05-18

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd5242

Keywords

RAGE, lung, apoptosis, NF-ĸB, FasL

Language

English

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