Inhibition of gap-junctional intercellular communication by TPA and airborne particulate matter in primary cultures of rat alveolar type II cells.

Alveolar type II cells were isolated from the lungs of female Wistar rats and were used for studies on inhibition of gap junction mediated intercellular communication (IC). Cells were incubated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) or extracts of airborne particulate matter (APM) and subsequently microinjected with the fluorescent dye Lucifer Yellow after which the number of fluorescent (i.e. communicating) cells was determined. Cells exposed to solvent (DMSO), showed an extensive dye coupling. Exposure of cells to TPA or extracts of APM derived from different pollution sources resulted in a strong inhibition of IC. These results show that primary cultures of rat alveolar type II cells can serve pre-eminently as a model in dye-coupling experiments. It further can be concluded that extracts of APM, in addition to the genotoxic activity that has been known for many years, also may have a tumor-promoting potency.