The a-subunit of the trimeric G-protein complex specific for taste receptor cells of the tongue, a-gustducin, is described here to be also expressed in the stomach and intestine. The a-gustducin-containing cells were identified as brush cells that are scattered throughout the surface epithelium of the gut and share structural features of taste receptor cells of the tongue. These findings provide clues to the long-sought molecular and cellular basis for chemoreception in the gut.It is generally believed that the epithelium lining the inner surface of the gut can sense chemical components of the lumenal contents. This chemosensory information appears to be important for the regulation of various aspects of gastrointestinal secretion, resorption, and motility (1, 2). Classical examples of intestinal chemosensitivity are the dependence of gastric emptying on the chemical nature of the nutrients present in the small intestine and the involvement of chemical preabsorption information in short-term regulation of food intake (2). The cellular and molecular basis for chemoreception in the gut is hitherto unknown. In this study we addressed the question ofwhether the epithelium of the gut might express a-gustducin, the GTP-binding a-subunit of a trimeric Gprotein complex that is specific for taste receptor cells of the tongue (3). Here we show that a-gustducin is also expressed in the epithelium of the gut where it is associated with a specialized cell type long known under the names brush cell, tufted cell, or caveolated cell (4-6). The function of this cell type, which is present in humans, rats, and probably all other mammals, had been enigmatic until now. MATERIALS AND METHODSAntibodies and Immunostaining. A polyclonal antibody specific for a-gustducin was raised in a rabbit immunized with a synthetic peptide comprising amino acid residues 92-113 of the rat a-gustducin sequence (3). This sequence stretch is unique for a-gustducin and is not present in the sequences of any other known G-protein. Antibodies were affinity-purified to the peptide adsorbed to nitrocellulose (7,8). Polyclonal rabbit antibodies specific for chromogranin A and serotonin (9) and mouse monoclonal antibodies to villin (Dianova, Hamburg, Germany) and cytokeratin 18 (Progen, Heidelberg) were also used in this study. Indirect immunofluorescence was applied to 1-,um thick tissue sections of quick-frozen and Epon-embedded tissues as described (8). For doubleimmunofluorescence sections were incubated with a mixture of the rabbit antibody against a-gustducin and mouse monoclonal antibodies either specific for villin or cytokeratin 18. Primary antibodies were diluted with PBS: anti-gustducin (1:200), anti-chromogranin (1:4,000), anti-serotonin (1:10,000), anti-villin (0.1 /Lg/ml-1), anti-cytokeratin 18 (0.5 ,ug/ml-1). As secondary antibodies fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled goat anti-mouse IgG and tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate-labeled goat anti-rabbit IgG (Dianova) were used at concentrations of 0.1 Ag/ml-1.Immunoblotting. Various tissue...
Oligonucleotide and cRNA probes were used for nonradioactive in situ hybridizations carried out to identify the neural cell types expressing the glutamate transporter GLAST mRNA in the rat CNS. Additionally, the regional distribution of GLAST mRNA-expressing cells was studied, and the results were complemented by immunocytochemical investigations using an antibody against a synthetic GLAST peptide. The findings documented that GLAST is expressed by Bergmann glia and by astrocytes throughout the CNS. The glial localization of GLAST mRNA was verified unequivocally by double-labeling with an astrocytic marker protein. Additionally, GLAST mRNA reactivity and GLAST immunoreactivity were found in ependymal cells. In other neural cell types of the CNS, GLAST expression was not detectable. A high level of astrocytic immunolabeling was observed in the entire gray matter of the brain, with variations in intensity in different regions. Those brain areas that are known to possess high glutamatergic activity and astrocytic glutamate metabolism stained intensely for both GLAST mRNA and GLAST protein. The latter observation suggests that the GLAST glutamate transporter participates in the regulation of extracellular glutamate concentrations, especially in brain areas receiving an intense glutamatergic innervation.
The role of cadherins and the cadherin-binding cytosolic protein plakoglobin in intercellular adhesion was studied in cultured human umbilical venous endothelial cells exposed to fluid shear stress. Extracellular Ca2+depletion (<10−7 M) caused the disappearance of both cadherins and plakoglobin from junctions, whereas the distribution of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM-1) remained unchanged. Cells stayed fully attached to each other for several hours in low Ca2+ but began to dissociate under flow conditions. At the time of recalcification, vascular endothelial (VE) cadherin and β-catenin became first visible at junctions, followed by plakoglobin with a delay of ∼20 min. Full fluid shear stress stability of the junctions correlated with the time course of the reappearance of plakoglobin. Inhibition of plakoglobin expression by microinjection of antisense oligonucleotides did not interfere with the junctional association of VE-cadherin, PECAM-1, and β-catenin. The plakoglobin-deficient cells remained fully attached to each other under resting conditions but began to dissociate in response to flow. Shear stress-induced junctional dissociation was also observed in cultures of plakoglobin-depleted arterial endothelial cells of the porcine pulmonary trunk. These observations show that interendothelial adhesion under hydrodynamic but not resting conditions requires the junctional location of cadherins associated with plakoglobin. β-Catenin cannot functionally compensate for the junctional loss of plakoglobin, and PECAM-1-mediated adhesion is not sufficient for monolayer integrity under flow.
Molecular factors and tissue compartments involved in the foundation of the mammalian germline have been mainly described in the mouse so far. To find mechanisms applicable to mammals in general, we analyzed temporal and spatial expression patterns of the transcriptional repressor BLIMP1 (also known as PRDM1) and the signaling molecules BMP2 and BMP4 in perigastrulation and early neurulation embryos of the rabbit using whole-mount in situ hybridization and high-resolution light microscopy. Both BMP2 and BMP4 are expressed in annular domains at the boundary of the embryonic disc, which—in contrast to the situation in the mouse—partly belong to intraembryonic tissues. While BMP2 expression begins at (pregastrulation) stage 1 in the hypoblast, BMP4 expression commences—distinctly delayed compared to the mouse—diffusely at (pregastrulation) stage 2; from stage 3 onwards, BMP4 is expressed peripherally in hypoblast and epiblast and in the mesoderm at the posterior pole of the embryonic disc. BLIMP1 expression begins throughout the hypoblast at stage 1 and emerges in single primordial germ cell (PGC) precursors in the posterior epiblast at stage 2 and then in single mesoderm cells at positions identical to those identified by PGC-specific antibodies. These expression patterns suggest that function and chronology of factors involved in germline segregation are similar in mouse and rabbit, but higher temporal and spatial resolution offered by the rabbit demonstrates a variable role of bone morphogenetic proteins and makes “blimping” a candidate case for lateral inhibition without the need for an allantoic germ cell niche.
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