The expression of diacylglycerol kinase theta during the organogenesis of mouse embryos.
BACKGROUND
Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is a key enzyme that regulates diacylglycerol (DG) turnover and is involved in a variety of physiological functions. The isoform DGKθ has a unique domain structure and is the sole member of type V DGK. To reveal the spatial and temporal expression of DGKθ we performed immunohistochemical staining on paraffin sections of mouse embryos.


RESULTS
At an early stage of development (E10.5 and 11.5), the expression of DGKθ was prominently detected in the brain, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, and limb bud, and was also moderately detected in the bulbus cordis and the primordium of the liver and gut. At later stages (E12.5 and 14.5), DGKθ expression persisted or increased in the neocortex, epithalamus, hypothalamus, medulla oblongata, and pons. DGKθ was also evident in the epidermis, and nearly all epithelia of the oropharyngeal membrane, digestive tract, and bronchea. At prenatal developmental stages (E16.5 and E18.5), the expression pattern of DGKθ was maintained in the central nervous system, intestine, and kidney, but was attenuated in the differentiated epidermis.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that DGKθ may play important physiological roles not only in the brain, but also in diverse organs and tissues during the embryonic stages.
Department of Agrobioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. shirai@kobe-u.ac.jp.
Shuji
S
Ueda
Becky
B
Tu-Sekine
Minoru
M
Yamanoue
Daniel M
DM
Raben
Yasuhito
Y
Shirai
D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D019852:Diacylglycerol Kinase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004075:Diglycerides / Q000378:metabolism; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics*; D004817:Epidermis / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D004075:Diglycerides; D019852:Diacylglycerol Kinase