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Mineralocorticoid Receptor Expression in Late-Gestation Ovine Fetal Lung

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Abstract

Changes in adrenal corticosteroid secretion result in changes in lung liquid production in the late-gestation fetus. To test for the presence of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) in fetal pulmonary epithelium, lungs from fetal sheep of 120 to 130 days’ gestation (term about 148 days) were collected and frozen for identification of mRNA for MR in homogenates by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or for determination of H-cortisol binding at MR. Other samples of fetal lungs were fixed for localization of MR and Na+, K+ adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) a by immunohistochemistry. MR mRNA was identified in lung tissue from fetuses and newborn lambs, but not from pregnant ewes; MR-regulated genes, including SGK1 and ENaCα were also expressed in fetal and newborn lungs. Immunoreactive MR was found in pulmonary epithelial cells and to be colocalized with Na+, K+ ATPase α in many sites. These results indicate that the molecular apparatus for mineralocorticoid-stimulated lung liquid reabsorption is present in epithelium by 120 days’ gestation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Depanment of Pharmacodynamics, College ofPhamucy, and Department of Physiology and Functional GenOInics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32610-0487, USA, Box 100487

    Maureen Keller-Wood PhD, Charles E. Wood PhD, Yi Hua MD, PhD & Daying Zhang MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Maureen Keller-Wood PhD
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  2. Charles E. Wood PhD
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  3. Yi Hua MD, PhD
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  4. Daying Zhang MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maureen Keller-Wood PhD.

Additional information

The authors would like to acknowledge the technical assistance of Joyce Villemar Loyed and Jennifer Johnson, who performed the immunohistochemistry studies. Joyce Loyed was supported by a Gateway research scholarship from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education. Jennifer Johnson was supported by a Minority Student Training Grant from the National Institutes of Health. This project was supported by NIH Grant HD35175 to M. Keller-Wood.

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Keller-Wood, M., Wood, C.E., Hua, Y. et al. Mineralocorticoid Receptor Expression in Late-Gestation Ovine Fetal Lung. Reprod. Sci. 12, 84–91 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsgi.2004.10.010

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