It is recognized that the function of the tracheobronchial mucociliary epithelium is critical to the health and well being of the newborn infant. Still our understanding of the perinatal development of the airways is quite incomplete and we have a limited appreciation of how airway immaturity may contribute to pulmonary disease in the neonate. Whereas research over the past two decades has done much to improve our understanding of endocrine involvement in the maturation of the pulmonary surfactant system, no attention has been paid to the potential role that hormones or other materno-fetal factors may play in the fetal (and postnatal) development of the pulmonary airways epithelium. The proposed investigation will examine the influence that the hormones corticosterone, T3 and insulin play in the morphogenesis of the tracheal epithelium and submucosal mucous glands. This research will use organ culture under component defined serum-free media conditions to isolate and control the in vitro environment of fetal rat (and hamster) trachea explants. Morphological methods (TEM, SEM, LM, LM mucin histochemistry) will be used to analyze the ontogeny of airways cell types in vivo and in vitro. Morphometric analysis will quantitate the influence of corticosterone, T3 and insulin (administered separately and in combination) on the cytomorphogenesis of specific airways cell types. This investigation will greatly improve our understanding of endocrine influence in the morphogenetic development of key cell types involved in respiratory defense function in the neonate.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01HD019263-01
Application #
3316506
Study Section
Human Embryology and Development Subcommittee 2 (HED)
Project Start
1985-01-01
Project End
1987-12-31
Budget Start
1985-01-01
Budget End
1985-12-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1985
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
005436803
City
Indianapolis
State
IN
Country
United States
Zip Code
46202
McAteer, J A; Dougherty, G S; Gardner Jr, K D et al. (1988) Polarized epithelial cysts in vitro: a review of cell and explant culture systems that exhibit epithelial cyst formation. Scanning Microsc 2:1739-63