Cytotoxicity of dust constituents towards alveolar macrophages: interactions of heavy metal compounds.

The interactions between different heavy metal compounds which affect their cytotoxicity towards rabbit alveolar macrophages were investigated. The cells were exposed in vitro to combinations of As3+, Cd2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, or V5+ with different concentrations of another heavy metal compound. Toxicity was determined as the depression of zymosan-induced release of superoxide anion radicals. Significant antagonisms occurred in the combinations Cd2+/Zn2+, Hg2+/As3+, and Hg2+/Se4+, while significant synergisms were exhibited by the combinations Cd2+/Cu2+, Cd2+/Sn2+, Hg2+/Cu2+, Ni2+/Cd2+, Ni2+/Cu2+, Ni2+/Sn2+ and V5+/Cu2+. In the combinations As3+/Zn2+, Hg2+/Cd2+ and Hg2+/Zn2+, both kinds of interactions were observed depending on the concentrations of the heavy metal compounds. An interpretation of the measured heavy metal interactions with reference to the toxicity of heavy metal-containing dusts is attempted.

Expression of IGF receptors on alveolar macrophages: IGF-induced changes in InsPi formation, [Ca2+]i, and pHi.

Expression of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) receptors and insulin-like growth factor-II/mannose-6-phosphate (IGF-II/Man6P) receptors in cultured bovine alveolar macrophages (BAM) was demonstrated by competitive binding studies and crosslinking experiments. Western blotting of protein extracts from cultured BAM using an anti bovine IGF-II/Man6P receptor antiserum (#66416) confirmed the presence of IGF-II/Man6P receptors on BAM. The effects of IGFs and Man6P on generation of inositol phosphates was measured by HPLC analysis of perchloric acid extracts from myo-[3H]inositol-labelled cultured BAM. IGF-I at nanomolar concentrations and Man6P (10[-8]-10[-3] M) stimulated the accumulation of both Ins(1,4,5)P3 and Ins(1,3,4,5)P4 after 30 sec. IGF-II (up to 2.3 x 10[-8] M) had no significant effect on inositol phosphate accumulation under the same conditions. Both IGFs and Man6P induced a rise in [Ca2+]i in cultured BAM. In addition, using the fluorescent dye SNARF-1/AM we could demonstrate rapid but small IGF-II (10[-9] M) triggered acidification (0.07 pH units) of cultured BAM. Taken together, our results indicate not only the presence of both IGF-I and IGF-II/Man6P receptors on BAM, but also provide evidence of the linkage of the IGF-I receptor to the inositol phosphate system.