Secretions from Primary Hamster Tracheal Surface Epithelial Cells in Culture: Mucin-Like Glycoproteins, Proteoglycans, and Lipids

Surface epithelial cells dissociated from hamster tracheas and grown on a thick collagen gel in the presence of 5% fetal bovine serum become highly enriched with secretory cells at confluence. In the present communication, we have analyzed secretory products from this primary hamster tracheal surface epithelial (HTSE) cell culture. The secreted glycoconjugates included high-molecular-weight mucin-like glycoproteins (HMW MLGP) and proteoglycans that comprised 22% and 5% of the total fHJglycoconjugates secreted when [3H]glucosamine was added as a metabolic precursor. Among the proteoglycans were hyaluronic acids (53%), heparan sulfate proteoglycans (29%), and chron-droitin sulfate proteoglycans (18%). Chondroitin sulfates were mostly 4-sulfated. On the other hand, the secreted lipids included cholesterol, phospholipids, and glycolipids, and most of them were associated with HMW MLGP.