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1 School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
2 Division of Infection, Inflammation & Repair, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, United Kingdom
3 Department of Obstetrics & Gynecolog, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
4 Department of Neonatology, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tubingen, Germany
5 Department of Obstetrics & Gynecolog, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Department of Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Dept of Chemistry, Behala College, Kolkata, India
6 Zentrum Physiologie, Medizinische Hochschule, Hannover, Germany
7 Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
8 Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sandra.orgeig{at}adelaide.edu.au.
Pulmonary surfactant, a complex mixture of lipids and proteins, lowers the surface tension in terminal air spaces and is crucial for lung function. Within an animal species, surfactant composition can be influenced by development, disease, respiratory rate and/or body temperature. Here we analysed the composition of surfactant in three heterothermic mammals (dunnart, bat, squirrel), displaying different torpor patterns, to determine: 1. if increases in surfactant cholesterol (Chol) and phospholipid (PL) saturation occur during long-term torpor in squirrels, as in bats and dunnarts; 2. if surfactant proteins change during torpor; and 3. if PL molecular species (molsp) composition is altered. In addition, we analysed the molsp composition of a further 9 mammals (including placental/marsupial and hetero-/homeothermic contrasts) to determine whether phylogeny or thermal behaviour determines molsp composition in mammals. We discovered that like bats and dunnarts, surfactant Chol increases during torpor in squirrels. However, changes in PL saturation during torpor may not be universal. Torpor was accompanied by a decrease in SP-A in dunnarts and squirrels, but not in bats, whereas SP-B did not change in any species. PC16:0/16:0 is highly variable between mammals and is not the major PL in the wombat, dunnart, shrew or Tasmanian devil. An inverse relationship exists between PC16:0/16:0 and two of the major fluidising components, PC16:0/16:1 and PC16:0/14:0. The PL molsp profile of an animal species is not determined by phylogeny or thermal behaviour. We conclude that there is no single PL molsp composition that functions optimally in all mammals, rather surfactant from each animal is unique and tailored to the biology of that animal.
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