Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-GASTROINTESTINAL AND LIVER PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 278, Issue 1, Pages G89-G97Publisher
AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1152/ajpgi.2000.278.1.G89
Keywords
IEC-6; Caco-2; RT-PCR; crypt-villus axis; differentiation
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Gene expression of activin, activin receptors, and follistatin was investigated in vivo and in vitro using semiquantitative RT-PCR in intestinal epithelial cells. Rat jejunum and the intestinal epithelial cell line IEC-6 expressed mRNA encoding the beta A-subunit of activin, alpha-subunit of inhibin, activin receptors IB and IIA, and follistatin. An epithelial cell isolation study focused along the crypt-villus axis in rat jejunum showed that beta A mRNA levels were eight- to tenfold higher in villus cells than in crypt cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed the expression of activin A in upper villus cells. The human intestinal cell line Caco-2 was used as a differentiation model of enterocytes. Four- to fivefold induction of beta A mRNA was observed in postconfluent Caco-2 cells grown on filter but not in those cells grown on plastic. In contrast, follistatin mRNA was seen to be reduced after reaching confluence. Exogenous activin A dose-dependently suppressed the proliferation and stimulated the expression of apolipoprotein A-TV gene, a differentiation marker, in IEC-B cells. These results suggest that the activin system is involved in the regulation of such cellular functions as proliferation and differentiation in intestinal epithelial cells.
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