title: Immunohistochemical localization of ghrelin in rodent kidneys.
abstract: Ghrelin is a novel peptide hormone, originally identified in the rat and human stomach that plays various important roles. In the present study, we report the intra-renal localization of ghrelin in laboratory rodents. Kidneys from 3 month-old mice, rats and hamsters of both sexes were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Positive signals were clearly observed in the epithelium of the distal tubules, whereas other segments of the nephron or interstitial cells, including juxtaglomerular cells, showed negative reactions. Pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopy revealed positive signals exclusively on the basolateral membrane in the distal tubular cells and in the collecting ducts. In addition, prepro-ghrelin gene expression was assessed by RT-PCR, and the expected 329-bp prepro-ghrelin mRNA was clearly detected in the kidney. On Western blot analysis, although a specific band for ghrelin (3 kDa) was not detected in the kidney, the expected band for prepro-ghrelin (13 kDa) was clearly detected in both the stomach and the kidney. This paper clarified the intra-renal localization of ghrelin.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Anatomy, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto, 890-0065 Kagoshima, Japan. yabu@agri.kagoshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yabuki
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taharaguchi
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ichii
authors.forename: Masayasu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: Hiroharu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mifune
authors.forename: Ryozo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kamimura
authors.forename: Mitsuharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Shusaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006224:Cricetinae; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D054439:Ghrelin; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D007672:Kidney Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007685:Kidney Tubules, Collecting / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007686:Kidney Tubules, Distal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013270:Stomach / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones