Topographic distribution of prostaglandin secretion caused by bradykinin in canine tracheal epithelial cells

Inflammatory mediators promote the synthesis and secretion of prostaglandin (PG) mediators in airway epithelial cells. In this study, we examined the topographic and kinetic profile of PG secretion in canine tracheal epithelial cells harvested from the tracheal posterior membrane (PM) and those obtained from the immediately anterior cartilage-associated membrane (CM). Primary cultures of tracheal epithelial cells obtained from 23 disease-free dogs were grown to confluence in serum-enriched medium. Cells then were incubated in serum-free medium for 1 h and stimulated with 10(-7) to 10(-5) M bradykinin. Baseline secretion of PGE2 was similar to both PM and CM cells; however, PM cells secreted greater concentrations in both PGI2 (measured as 6-keto-PGF1 alpha) (1,269 +/- 160 versus 775 +/- 91 pg/10(6) cells, P less than 0.01) and PGF2 alpha (436 +/- 54 versus 234 +/- 45 pg/10(6) cells, P less than 0.002) compared with CM cells. Bradykinin (BK) stimulation caused substantial secretion in less than or equal to 20 min of PGE2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha from PM but not CM cells: after stimulation with 10(-6) M BK, 6-keto-PGF1 alpha secretion was 348 +/- 74% in PM cells versus 157 +/- 18% of baseline secretion in CM cells (P less than 0.005); PGE2 secretion was 310 +/- 53% in PM cells versus 163 +/- 15% of baseline secretion in CM cells (P less than 0.001).