Phospholipid profile of Pneumocystis carinii and its interaction with alveolar type II epithelial cells.

Pneumocystis carinii is an obligate parasite of mammalian lungs, attaching to but not invading the alveolar epithelium. The alveolar air spaces are rich in phospholipids, which are secreted by steroid-responsive alveolar type II epithelial cells. P. carinii isolated from rat lungs was found to contain the expected structural phospholipids as well as a large amount of firmly attached disaturated phosphatidylcholine, the characteristic phospholipid of alveolar surfactant. In vitro, P. carinii cells synthesized phospholipids from simple radiolabeled precursors; disaturated phosphatidylcholine was not formed. However, washed P. carinii cells avidly adsorbed radiolabeled rat surfactant, a process that appeared to be saturable, not dependent on viability of the organisms, and abolished by incubation at 4 degrees C. The surfactant was neither harmful nor beneficial to in vitro survival of the organisms. With the exception of high concentrations of arachidonic acid, fatty acids found in rat alveolar lining material were also not toxic. In addition, cultures consisting primarily of rat type II alveolar epithelial cells were toxic to P. carinii when the organisms were added to monolayers of type II cells at less than or equal to 10:1 multiplicity. At higher multiplicities, the parasite survived (but did not increase in numbers), and the type II cells deteriorated. The mechanism for this effect has not been determined.