TY - JOUR
T1 - Differential expression of the neurotensin gene in the developing rat and human gastrointestinal tract
AU - Evers, B. M.
AU - Rajaraman, S.
AU - Chung, D. H.
AU - Townsend, C. M.
AU - Wang, X.
AU - Graves, K.
AU - Thompson, J. C.
PY - 1993
Y1 - 1993
N2 - Neurotensin (NT) is an important hormone regulating gut motility, secretion, and growth. The purpose of this study was to determine the developmental expression of the NT/neuromedin N gene (NT/N) in the gut and pancreas of rats and humans. We found that NT/N expression, initially low in the fetal rat jejunum and ileum, is increased by postnatal day 3. This increase is independent of contact with luminal nutrients as demonstrated by elevated NT/N expression in rat jejunoileal grafts implanted in nude mice. NT/N expression reaches maximal levels in the small bowel by postnatal day 14. After postnatal day 28, NT/N mRNA levels remain constant in the ileum but decrease in the jejunum. Transient NT/N expression is found in the colon of fetal and postnatal rats. Similar to the rat, NT/N expression is low in the human fetal ileum but increases in the adult. In the human colon, NT/N is transiently expressed in the fetus at midgestation but disappears by birth and, similarly, is not apparent in the adult. We conclude the following. 1) The NT/N gene demonstrates a complex pattern of tissue-specific expression; the jejunum and ileum show a similar pattern of expression until the end of the fourth postnatal week, when NT/N levels decrease in the jejunum to assume the distinctive adult topographical distribution with NT/N increasing along the jejunoileal axis. 2) NT/N is transiently expressed in the colon of rats and humans during a developmental stage characterized by morphological and functional similarities to the small bowel; therefore, NT/N may provide a useful endocrine marker to further define the complex differentiation pathway leading to small bowel and colonic phenotypes.
AB - Neurotensin (NT) is an important hormone regulating gut motility, secretion, and growth. The purpose of this study was to determine the developmental expression of the NT/neuromedin N gene (NT/N) in the gut and pancreas of rats and humans. We found that NT/N expression, initially low in the fetal rat jejunum and ileum, is increased by postnatal day 3. This increase is independent of contact with luminal nutrients as demonstrated by elevated NT/N expression in rat jejunoileal grafts implanted in nude mice. NT/N expression reaches maximal levels in the small bowel by postnatal day 14. After postnatal day 28, NT/N mRNA levels remain constant in the ileum but decrease in the jejunum. Transient NT/N expression is found in the colon of fetal and postnatal rats. Similar to the rat, NT/N expression is low in the human fetal ileum but increases in the adult. In the human colon, NT/N is transiently expressed in the fetus at midgestation but disappears by birth and, similarly, is not apparent in the adult. We conclude the following. 1) The NT/N gene demonstrates a complex pattern of tissue-specific expression; the jejunum and ileum show a similar pattern of expression until the end of the fourth postnatal week, when NT/N levels decrease in the jejunum to assume the distinctive adult topographical distribution with NT/N increasing along the jejunoileal axis. 2) NT/N is transiently expressed in the colon of rats and humans during a developmental stage characterized by morphological and functional similarities to the small bowel; therefore, NT/N may provide a useful endocrine marker to further define the complex differentiation pathway leading to small bowel and colonic phenotypes.
KW - gene expression
KW - gut differentiation
KW - ontogeny
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U2 - 10.1152/ajpgi.1993.265.3.g482
DO - 10.1152/ajpgi.1993.265.3.g482
M3 - Article
C2 - 8214071
AN - SCOPUS:0027431919
SN - 0002-9513
VL - 265
SP - G482-G490
JO - American Journal of Physiology - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
JF - American Journal of Physiology - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
IS - 3 28-3
ER -