Research Report
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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2014; 20(22): 6884-6896
Published online Jun 14, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i22.6884
Mesothelin promotes cell proliferation in the remodeling of neonatal rat pancreas
Dan-Dan Yin, Liang-Hui You, Qing-Xin Yuan, Xiao-Di Liang, Ning Wang, Lin-Tao Wang, Li Yuan, Ke-Ming Wang, Wei De
Dan-Dan Yin, Department of Central Laboratory, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Southeast University, Nanjing 210003, Jiangsu Province, China
Dan-Dan Yin, 2nd Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Liang-Hui You, Xiao-Di Liang, Ning Wang, Lin-Tao Wang, Li Yuan, Wei De, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Qing-Xin Yuan, Department of Endocrinology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Ke-Ming Wang, Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Yin DD and Liang XD performed the majority of the experiments; You LH, Yuan QX, Wang N, Wang LT, Yuan L and Wang KM provided vital reagents and analytical tools and were also involved in editing the manuscript; De W designed the study and wrote the manuscript; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81070620 and No. 81170715; and Jiangsu Province’s Universities Natural Science Research, No. 09KJB320009
Correspondence to: Wei De, MD, PhD, Professor of Molecular Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China. dewei@njmu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-25-86862728 Fax: +86-25-86862728
Received: February 18, 2014
Revised: March 21, 2014
Accepted: April 15, 2014
Published online: June 14, 2014
Processing time: 194 Days and 16.5 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the effect of mesothelin in the remodeling of the endocrine pancreas in neonatal rats.

METHODS: Overexpression or downregulation of mesothelin expression in INS-1 cells was carried out to investigate the effect of mesothelin during cell proliferation and cell apoptosis in vitro. Adenovirus-mediated RNA interference was performed to block mesothelin in vivo to directly assess the role of mesothelin in the remodeling of the endocrine pancreas in neonatal rats.

RESULTS: Exogenous overexpression of mesothelin promoted cell proliferation, cell colony formation and enhanced cell resistance to apoptosis of INS-1 cells. Down-regulation of mesothelin made no difference in cell proliferation and apoptosis compared with that in the control group. After an injection of adenovirus-mesothelin, a significantly increased number of small islets appeared, and the expression of PCNA was decreased on day 7 and day 14 compared with the Ad-EGFP group.

CONCLUSION: Mesothelin was able to promote β cell proliferation in the remodeling stage of neonatal rats. Mesothelin may have an important role in the remodeling of the endocrine pancreas in neonatal rats.

Keywords: Mesothelin; Pancreatic remodeling; Cell proliferation; Pancreatic development; Small islets

Core tip: Mesothelin may promote cell proliferation and affect the number of small islets during the remodeling of the endocrine pancreas in neonatal rats.