title: Laminins in the developing and adult human small intestine: relation with the functional absorptive unit.
abstract: The expression of the five laminin alpha-chains was analyzed in the developing and mature human small intestine at the protein and transcript levels in order to further delineate specific involvement of individual laminins in relation to the epithelial cell state as defined along the functional crypt-villus axis. The results show that all of the alpha-laminin transcripts are expressed in significant amounts in the small intestine relative to a panel of other tissues and organs. Further analysis of their expression by indirect immunofluorescence and semi-quantitative and quantitative RT-PCR demonstrates a close correlation between transcript and protein expression, distinct epithelial and mesenchymal origins, as well as differential occurrence in intestinal basement membranes according to developmental stage, along the crypt-villus axis and in compartment-related experimental intestinal cell models. Taken together, the data point out the prime importance of alpha2-, alpha3-, and alpha5-containing laminins for the development and maintenance of the functional human intestinal epithelium.
authors.affiliation: CIHR Team on Digestive Epithelium, Département d'anatomie et de biologie cellulaire, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Inga C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Teller
authors.forename: Joëlle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Auclair
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herring
authors.forename: Rémy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gauthier
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ménard
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Beaulieu
mesh_terms: D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology*; D007797:Laminin / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007797:Laminin