Surfactant protein A is an innate immune systemcollectin. It is water-soluble and has collagen-like domains similar to SP-D. It is part of the innate immune system and is used to opsonize bacterial cells in the alveoli marking them for phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages. SP-A may also play a role in negative feedback limiting the secretion of pulmonary surfactant. SP-A is not required for pulmonary surfactant to function but does confer immune effects to the organism.[1]
During parturition
The role of surfactant protein A (SP-A) in childbirth is indicated in studies with mice.[2] Mice which gestate for 19 days typically show signs of SP-A in amniotic fluid at around 16 days. If SP-A is injected into the uterus at 15 days, mice typically deliver early. Inversely, an SP-A inhibitor injection causes notable delays in birth.
The presence of surfactant protein A seemed to trigger an inflammatory response in the uterus of the mice, but later studies found an anti-inflammatory response in humans.[3] In fact, the level of SP-A in a human uterus typically decreases during labor.
Immune functions
Research on SP-A has been done mainly in rodents including mice and rats. This research has shown that mice deficient in SP-A are more susceptible to infections from group B streptoccoal organisms,[4]Pseudomonas aeruginosa,[5] and likely other organisms. The immune functions of SP-A are time-, temperature-, and concentration-dependent.[6]
Location
SP-A is found in the pulmonary surfactant in lungs. SP-A and SP-D are also present in extrapulmonary tissues.[7]
^LeVine AM, Kurak KE, Bruno MD, Stark JM, Whitsett JA, Korfhagen TR (October 1998). "Surfactant protein-A-deficient mice are susceptible to Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection". American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. 19 (4): 700–8. doi:10.1165/ajrcmb.19.4.3254. PMID9761768.
^van Iwaarden F, Welmers B, Verhoef J, Haagsman HP, van Golde LM (January 1990). "Pulmonary surfactant protein A enhances the host-defense mechanism of rat alveolar macrophages". American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. 2 (1): 91–8. doi:10.1165/ajrcmb/2.1.91. PMID2306370.
^Haagsman HP, Diemel RV (May 2001). "Surfactant-associated proteins: functions and structural variation". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology. 129 (1): 91–108. doi:10.1016/s1095-6433(01)00308-7. PMID11369536.