Differential expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor family receptor alpha-2 isoforms in rat urinary bladder and intestine

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 2007-03, Vol.415 (3), p.215-218
• Main Authors: Dolatshad, Nazanin F., Saffrey, M. Jill
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative Splicing - physiology; Animals; Autonomic nervous system; Autonomic Pathways - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GDNF; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Receptors - metabolism; Hypogastric Plexus - metabolism; Intestines - innervation; Intestines - metabolism; Male; Muscle, Smooth - innervation; Muscle, Smooth - metabolism; Myenteric Plexus - metabolism; Neurturin; Neurturin - metabolism; Peripheral nervous system. Autonomic nervous system. Neuromuscular transmission. Ganglionic transmission. Electric organ; Protein Isoforms - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; RNA; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Smooth muscle; Sprague–Dawley rat; Urinary Bladder - innervation; Urinary Bladder - metabolism; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2007.01.024

Neurturin (NTN) is a member of the glial cell line-derived (GDNF) family of neurotrophic factors, which act via a receptor complex composed of a signal transducing receptor, c-Ret and a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked ligand binding receptor, GFRα. Different members of the GDNF family bind preferentially to one of four different GFRα receptors; NTN binds preferentially to the GFRα-2 receptor. Recent evidence has shown that three alternatively spliced isoforms of GFRα-2 occur in rodent tissues, including the rat brain, myenteric plexus and kidney, and several mouse tissues. Here we have examined the occurrence of GFRα-2 isoforms in the adult male rat urinary bladder by RT-PCR, in parallel with samples from the muscularis externa of the rat ileum. In contrast to the ileum, only a single GFRα-2 isoform, the smallest isoform, known as GFRα-2c, was detected in the rat urinary bladder. This differential expression of GFRα-2 transcripts in bladder and intestine may be related to differences in the roles of NTN in the two tissues and its actions on the neurons that innervate them.