Rk. Mallampalli et al., EPIDERMAL GROWTH-FACTOR IS A POSITIVE IN-VIVO REGULATOR OF CTP- CHOLINEPHOSPHATE CYTIDYLYLTRANSFERASE, Experimental lung research, 20(1), 1994, pp. 1-11
CTP:cholinephosphate cytidylyltransferase (CT) is a key enzyme require
d for surfactant phosphatidylcholine synthesis, and its activity is re
gulated by lung lipids. This study evaluated the effect of epidermal g
rowth factor (EGF) on the phospholipid content and the expression of C
T in the lung following direct in vivo administration to the newborn r
at. EGF caused art increase in cytidylyltransferase activity by 58% in
lung cytosol. The increase in cytosolic activity was not mediated by
a corresponding increase in enzyme mass. Further, these changes in cyt
idylytransferase activity were associated with a significant increase
in total lung phospholipid and phosphatidylcholine content. The result
s suggest that EGF may have important maturational effects on lung sur
factant metabolism