Reg-II is an exocrine pancreas injury-response product that is up-regulated by keratin absence or mutation.
The major keratins in the pancreas and liver are keratins 8 and 18 (K8/K18), but their function seemingly differs in that liver K8/K18 are essential cytoprotective proteins, whereas pancreatic K8/K18 are dispensable. This functional dichotomy raises the hypothesis that K8-null pancreata may undergo compensatory cytoprotective gene expression. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the gene expression profile in pancreata of wild-type and K8-null mice. Most prominent among the up-regulated genes in K8-null pancreas was mRNA for regenerating islet-derived (Reg)-II, which was confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and by an anti-Reg-II peptide antibody we generated. Both K8-null and wild-type mice express Reg-II predominantly in acinar cells as determined by in situ hybridization and immunostaining. Analysis of Reg-II expression in various keratin-related transgenic mouse models showed that its induction also occurs in response to keratin cytoplasmic filament collapse, absence, or ablation of K18 Ser52 but not Ser33 phosphorylation via Ser-to-Ala mutation, which represent situations associated with predisposition to liver but not pancreatic injury. In wild-type mice, Reg-II is markedly up-regulated in two established pancreatitis models in response to injury and during the recovery phase. Thus, Reg-II is a likely mouse exocrine pancreas cytoprotective candidate protein whose expression is regulated by keratin filament organization and phosphorylation.
Zhong
Bihui
B
Department of Medicine, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
Strnad
Pavel
P
Toivola
Diana M
DM
Tao
Guo-Zhong
GZ
Ji
Xuhuai
X
Greenberg
Harry B
HB
Omary
M Bishr
MB
D000208:Acute Disease; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007633:Keratins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D046790:Pancreas, Exocrine / Q000293:injuries* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000073718:Pancreatitis-Associated Proteins; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation
D000073718:Pancreatitis-Associated Proteins; D011506:Proteins; C490253:Reg3b protein, mouse; D007633:Keratins