facs analysis and anti tsp 1 antibodies in the absence or presence of a 93 110 cd36 synthetic peptide which had been previously demonstrated to interfere with tsp 1 binding to cd36 were used it was demonstrated that small quantities of tsp 1 were present on the cell surface of alveolar macrophages after normal saline treatment and the presence of cd36 synthetic peptide 93 110 decreased the tsp 1 on the cell surface by a minimal amount fig8 a c however alveolar macrophages obtained after bleomycin administration had almost a 2 fold increase in tsp 1 cell surface association fig9 a c while the presence of the cd36 synthetic peptide 93 110 a condition that abrogates the association of the tsp 1 molecule with the cell surface cd36 receptor diminished the tsp 1 on the cell surface by 50 taken together the findings suggest that tsp 1 in the conditioned media associates with alveolar macrophages l tgf u03b2 1 which then complexes with the tsp 1 cell surface receptor cd36 this complex is then acted upon by plasmin which is generated by the cells themselves subsequently the mature tgf u03b2 1 is released into the cm fig1 a b in the experimental situation but would be released into its microenvironment in the in vivo setting five patients with clinical criteria of idiopathic pulmonary.