title: Tff3 is expressed in neurons and microglial cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The trefoil factor family (TFF) peptide TFF3 is typically secreted by mucous epithelia, but is also expressed in the immune system and the brain. It was the aim of this study to determine the cerebral cell types which express Tff3.
  
  
  METHODS
  Primary cultures from rat embryonic or neonatal cerebral cortex and hippocampus, respectively, were studied by means of RT-PCR and immunofluorescence. Moreover, Tff3 expression was localized by immunocytochemistry in sections of adult rat cerebellum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tff3 transcripts were detectable in neural cultures of both the cortex and the hippocampus as well as in glial cell-enriched cultures. Tff3 peptide co-localized with Map2 indicating an expression in neurons in vitro. The neuronal expression was confirmed by immunofluorescence studies of adult rat cerebellum. Furthermore, Tff3 peptide showed also a clear co-localization with Iba-1 in vitro typical of activated microglial cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The neuronal expression of Tff3 is in line with a function of a typical neuropeptide influencing, e.g., fear, memory, depression and motoric skills. The expression in activated microglial cells, which is demonstrated here for the first time, points towards a possible function for Tff3 in immune reactions in the CNS. This opens a plethora of additional possible functions for Tff3 including synaptic plasticity and cognition as well as during neuroinflammatory diseases and psychiatric disorders.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stellmacher
authors.forename: Eva B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Znalesniak
authors.forename: Daniela C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Dieterich
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kalbacher
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D017628:Microglia / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D000071165:Trefoil Factor-3
chemical_list: D009479:Neuropeptides; C099037:TFF3 protein, rat; D000071165:Trefoil Factor-3