Human SP-A and a pharmacy-grade porcine lung surfactant extract can be reconstituted into tubular myelin--a comparative structural study of alveolar surfactants using cryo-transmission electron microscopy.
Cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) is a rather artefact-free method, well suited to study the alveolar surfactant system. A pharmacy grade porcine lung surfactant extract (HL-10) was mixed with human SP-A and Ringer's solution (for calcium ions), and it was shown by cryo-TEM that the tubular myelin (TM) type of structure was reconstituted. These aggregates were associated to liposoma