Different mechanism of LPS-induced calcium increase in human lung epithelial cell and microvascular endothelial cell: a cell culture study in a model for ARDS

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a contemporary term incorporating the historic ‘acute lung injury’ and the colloquial term ‘shock lung’. ARDS remains a serious and enigmatic human disease, causing significant mortality. The mechanisms involved at the alveolar cell/capillary endothelial interface have been explored but to date we lack clarity on the role of intracellular calcium ([Ca 2+ ]i) fluxes across this interface. To explore the mechanisms of Ca 2+ induced inflammatory reaction in epithelial cells and pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC) located at the two sides of blood-air barrier, lung epithelial A549 and HMVEC cells were treated with LPS. Our results demonstrated that LPS evoked the increase of [Ca 2+ ]i, TNF-α and IL-8 in both cells types. The [Ca 2+ ]i increases involved intracellular but not extracellular Ca 2+ sources in A549, but both intracellular and extracellular Ca 2+ sources in HMVEC cells. The effects of LPS on both cells types were completely inhibited by the combination of LPS and CaSR-targeted siRNA. Furthermore, LPS-inhibited cell proliferations were significantly reversed by the combined treatment. Therefore, LPS induced different mechanisms of [Ca 2+ ]i increase during the activation of CaSR in A549 and HMVEC cells, which translates into functional outputs related to ARDS.