Publikationsdatenbank

Genomic, Tissue Expression, and Protein Characterization of pCLCA1, a Putative Modulator of Cystic Fibrosis in the Pig (2009)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Plog, Stephanie

Mundhenk, Lars

Klymiuk, Nikolai

Gruber, Achim D

Quelle

The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society

Bandzählung: 57

Heftzählung: 12

Seiten: 1169 – 1181

ISSN: 0022-1554

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

DOI: 10.1369/jhc.2009.954594

Pubmed: 19755716

Kontakt

Institut für Tierpathologie

Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 15
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 62450
pathologie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

Recent studies have identified members of the CLCA (chloride channels, calcium-activated) gene family as potential modulators of the cystic fibrosis (CF) phenotype, but differences between the human and murine CLCA genes and proteins may limit the use of murine CF models. Recently established pig models of CF are expected to mimic the human disease more closely than the available mouse models do. Here, we characterized the porcine CLCA gene locus, analyzed the expression pattern and protein processing of pCLCA1, and compared it to its human ortholog, hCLCA1. The porcine CLCA gene family is located on chromosome 4q25, with a broad synteny with the human and murine clca gene loci, except for a pig-specific gene duplication of pCLCA4. Using pCLCA1-specific antibodies, the protein was immunohistochemically localized in mucin-producing cells, including goblet cells and mucinous glands in the respiratory and alimentary tracts. Similar to hCLCA1, biochemical characterization of pCLCA1 identified a secreted soluble protein that could serve as an extracellular signaling molecule or functional constituent of the protective mucous layers. The results suggest that pCLCA1 shares essential characteristics of hCLCA1, supporting the pig model as a promising tool for studying the modulating role of pCLCA1 in the complex pathology of CF.