Immunoreactivity of thymosin beta 4 in human foetal and adult genitourinary tract

Abstract

Thymosin beta 4 (Tβ4) is a member of the beta-thymosins family, a family of peptides playing essential roles in many cellular functions. Our recent studies suggested Tβ4 plays a key role in the development of human salivary glands and the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of this study was to analyse the presence of Tβ4 in the human adult and foetal genitourinary tract. Immunolocalization of Tβ4 was studied in autoptic samples of kidney, bladder, uterus, ovary, testicle and prostate obtained from four human foetuses and four adults. Presence of the peptide was observed in cells of different origin: in surface epithelium, in gland epithelial cells and in the interstitial cells. Tβ4 was mainly found in adult and foetal bladder in the transitional epithelial cells; in the adult endometrium, glands and stromal cells were immunoreactive for the peptide; Tβ4 was mainly localized in the glands of foetal prostate while, in the adults a weak Tβ4 reactivity was restricted to the stroma. In adult and foetal kidney, Tβ4 reactivity was restricted to ducts and tubules with completely spared glomeruli; a weak positivity was observed in adult and foetal oocytes; immunoreactivity was mainly localized in the interstitial cells of foetal and adult testis. In this study, we confirm that Tβ4 could play a relevant role during human development, even in the genitourinary tract, and reveal that immunoreactivity for this peptide may change during postnatal and adult life.

Thymosin β4 expression reveals intriguing similarities between fetal and cancer cells

“…Marked differences in T␤4 expression among different organs were also observed by our group in an immunohistochemical study in the genitourinary tract. 59 The complexity of these changes made it difficult to understand the rules of the events we observed under the microscope. By using histopathological diagnosis in oncology and applying T␤4 immunocytochemistry in tumor cells, we found that the association between T␤4 with EMT was the most relevant.…”

The role of thymosin-β4 in kidney disease

“…Strong expression occurs in podocytes, the specialised epithelia of the glomerulus [13], a finding supported by profiling studies in adult mice identifying genes enriched in podocytes compared with the kidney cortex [14]. In contrast with these murine studies, immunohistochemistry of human fetal and adult kidneys has failed to detect thymosin-b 4 protein in glomeruli [15] and further investigations are required to reconcile this discrepancy.…”

Comparative expression and regulation of TMSB4X in male reproductive tissues of rats and chickens

“…In mammals, TMSB4X is most abundant in immune tissues; however, TMSB4X can be detected in many other tissues such as the brain, heart, liver, kidney, intestine, bladder, uterus, ovary, prostate, and testis (Hannappel et al, ; Gomez‐Marquez et al, ; Clauss et al, ; Nemolato et al, ). The lowest level of TMSB4X was detected in muscle, bone marrow, blood, and mast cells (Hannappel et al, ; Gomez‐Marquez et al, ; Clauss et al, ).…”

“…The expression of TMSB4X in rat testis was detected at only 10–20% of that shown in spleen (Goodall et al, ). However, the expression of TMSB4X mRNA was higher in the Leydig cells of the human fetal and adult testis when compared to oocytes in the ovary (Nemolato et al, ). In addition to thymosin β 10 (TMSB10) from fraction 5, a novel testis specific isoform of this protein was identified in the rats.…”