【关键词】 胰蛋白酶 Induction of secretion of interleukin8 from lung epithelial cells by trypsin 【Abstract】 AIM: To investigate the actions of trypsin on the secretion of interleukin8 (IL8) from human lung epithelial cells. METHODS: A549 cells were cultured in a 12well culture plate. The challenge was performed by adding various concentrations of trypsin or trypsin inhibitor into each well, respectively. After 2 h, 8 h or 16 h, the reactions were terminated by removing the supernatant from each well. A sandwich ELISA was used to determine the levels of IL8 in supernatants. RESULTS: Following 16 h incubation, trypsin induced the secretion of IL8 in a concentration dependent manner. As low as 1 μg/L trypsin was able to induce IL8 release from epithelial cells and the maximum of accumulated release of IL8 was observed with 3 μg/L trypsin, which was 5fold more than the baseline release. However, when trypsin concentration increased over 3 μg/L, the extent of increased secretion of IL8 decreased. Soybean trypsin inhibitor (SBTI) and α1antitrypsin (α1AT) inhibited trypsin induced secretion of IL8. The time course showed that the actions of trypsin initiated at 2 h and reached their peak at 16 h. CONCLUSION: Trypsin is a potent secretogogue of IL8 release from cultured human lung epithelial cells, indicating that it is likely to be involved in the pathophysiological process of airway inflammation. 【Keywords】 trypsin;epithelial cells; interleukin8; lung 【摘要】 目的: 探讨胰蛋白酶对人上皮细胞白细胞介素8(IL8)分泌的影响. 方法: 人肺上皮细胞系A549细胞分别接种于12孔培养板各孔内,并分别用不同浓度的胰蛋白酶和/或胰蛋白酶抑制剂进行刺激. 刺激时间为2 h、8 h和16 h. 用ELISA方法检测上清液中的IL8水平. 结果: 经过16 h的培养,胰蛋白酶可引起浓度相关性IL8释放,胰蛋白酶在浓度1 μg/L时就可引起IL8的释放量增加,3 μg/L时诱导IL8的释放量达高峰,为基础分泌量的5倍,但随着胰蛋白酶浓度的增加,IL8的释放量反而下降. 胰蛋白酶抑制剂可以抑制胰蛋白酶诱导IL8释放的作用. 时间相关曲线表明,胰蛋白酶从2 h起即可引起IL8释放,16 h达高峰. 结论: 胰蛋白酶可促进人肺上皮细胞分泌IL8,表明它能积极参与呼吸道的炎症过程.