title: Mucin gene expression in the rat middle ear: an improved method for RNA harvest.
abstract: Mucins are heavily glycosylated proteins characterized by high molecular weight and heterogeneous structure. Mucin genes are expressed in a tissue- or epithelium-specific manner. Although mucins are known to be important structural components of the mucociliary transport system that protects epithelium against invading microorganisms, very little is known about mucin gene expression unique to the middle ear. This study demonstrated that middle ear messenger RNA specifically hybridized with rat MUC2 and human MUC2 (SMUC-41) complementary DNA probes. MUC3 and MUC5AC mucin genes, dominantly expressed in rodent intestine and trachea, were not detected in the rat middle ears in this study. The middle ear MUC2 messenger RNA harvested by lavage was characterized by a single transcript--unlike its counterpart in intestine and airways, which is characterized by polydispersity--suggestive of a better method for RNA analysis. It was concluded that rat middle ears possess a MUC2 mucin gene or homologue of human MUC2 (SMUC-41).
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis 55455, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shekels
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Paparella
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015342:DNA Probes; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006801:Humans; D055271:Mucin 5AC; D055262:Mucin-2; D055263:Mucin-3; D009077:Mucins / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; C524625:MUC2 protein, human; C524678:MUC5AC protein, human; C524628:Muc2 protein, rat; C524651:Muc3 protein, rat; C524680:Muc5ac protein, rat; D055271:Mucin 5AC; D055262:Mucin-2; D055263:Mucin-3; D009077:Mucins; D012333:RNA, Messenger