Migration and gelatinases in cultured fetal, adult, and hyperoxic alveolar epithelial cells.

Alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) migration mediated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is required for lung development and repair after injury such as hyperoxia. Of specific interest in lung remodeling are the gelatinases, which are upregulated in AEC after hyperoxia. We correlated migration and gelatinase production in AEC cultured from fetal, adult, and hyperoxic rats. Fetal AEC (19-20 days) had higher MMP-2 and MMP-9 gelatinase expression than adult AEC, with fivefold higher MMP-9 activity, and were migratory through gelatin, responding to epidermal growth factor, keratinocyte growth factor, and fibroblast growth factor-10. MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression and migratory activity could be detected from the time of plating. In contrast, adult AEC migrated and expressed MMP-2 and MMP-9 proteins only after 48 h of culture. AEC from hyperoxic rats were significantly more migratory through gelatin than control adult AEC, with significantly higher MMP-9 activity. Inhibition of MMPs with doxycycline reduced the migration of AEC from hyperoxic rats to the level of control adult AEC. Fibronectin-cultured "hyperoxic" AEC acquired a temporary capacity for migration similar to the A549 lung cancer cell line, which is both highly migratory and invasive and is derived from the AEC type 2 lineage. These data suggest that MMP activity is associated with a migratory phenotype in fetal, hyperoxic, and transformed AEC in vitro, and we speculate that MMPs may play a key mechanistic role in AEC migration in vivo during lung development and repair.