Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 21, 2016; 22(43): 9525-9533
Published online Nov 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i43.9525
Na+/HCO3- cotransporter is expressed on β and α cells during rat pancreatic development
Li-Hua Cao, Cheng-Cai Xia, Zhao-Chun Shi, Ning Wang, Zheng-Hua Gu, Li-Zhi Yu, Qi Wan, Wei De
Li-Hua Cao, Ning Wang, Wei De, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Li-Hua Cao, Cheng-Cai Xia, Zheng-Hua Gu, Li-Zhi Yu, Department of Neurology, Nanjing PuKou Central Hospital, Nanjing 211800, Jiangsu Province, China
Li-Hua Cao, Zhao-Chun Shi, Qi Wan, Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Cao LH performed the majority of experiments and analyzed the data; Shi ZC, Gu ZH and Yu LZ participated equally in treatment of animals; Xia CC, Wan Q and De W designed and coordinated the research; Cao LH and Wang N wrote the paper.
Supported by Development of Medical Science and Technology Project of Jiangsu Province, No. YKK13205.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Department of Biochemistry, Nanjing Medical University Institutional Review Board.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Nanjing Medical University Experimental Animal Department Application for Ethical Approval for Research Involving Animals(NJMU/IACUC protocol number: 1401005).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Wei De, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry, 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: April 12, 2016
Peer-review started: April 14, 2016
First decision: August 29, 2016
Revised: September 7, 2016
Accepted: October 10, 2016
Article in press: October 10, 2016
Published online: November 21, 2016
Processing time: 219 Days and 16.5 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To determine the expression and localization of the electrogenic Na+/HCO3- cotransporter (NBC1) in rat pancreas during development.

METHODS

The rat pancreas from postnatal and embryos removed from the uterus of pregnant rats that had been sacrificed by CO2 asphyxiation were used. Rat pancreas from embryonic day (E) 15.5 and E18.5 rat embryos was isolated under a stereomicroscope. Rat pancreas from postnatal (P) days 0, 7, 14, 21 and adult was directly isolated by the unaided eye. The RT-PCR analysis of the NBC1 specific region on rat pancreas tissues from different developmental stages. The two antibodies which target the NBC1 common COOH-terminal region and NH2-terminal region detected a clear band of about 145 kDa in the Western blot analysis. The localization of NBC1 was examined by immuno-fluorescence detection.

RESULTS

The results revealed the first peak of NBC1 expression at E18.5 and the second peak at P14. Meanwhile, the low NBC1 expression occurred at P7 and adult stages. Our results demonstrated, for the first time, the presence of NBC1 in the plasma membrane of β and α cells, as well as in the basolateral membrane of acinar cells of the rat pancreas at different stages of development.

CONCLUSION

The data strongly suggests that NBC1 is diversely expressed in the pancreas at different developmental stages, where it may exert its functions in pancreatic development especially islet cell growth through HCO3- transport and pH regulation.

Keywords: Pancreatic development; β cells; α cells; Na+/HCO3- cotransporter; Immunolocalization

Core tip: This manuscript demonstrated that Na+/HCO3- cotransporter (NBC1) was present in the plasma membrane of β and α cells as well as in the basolateral membrane of acinar cells in rat developing pancreas by immuno-fluorescence detection. NBC1 mRNA and protein were diversely expressed in the pancreas at different developmental stages by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. The result suggests that it may exert its functions in pancreatic development especially islet cell growth through HCO3- transport and pH regulation.