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Expression of nitric oxide synthase in mucosal cells of the canine colon

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Abstract

The expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the mucosa of the canine colon was investigated with in situ hybridzation, immunohistochemistry (using isoform specific antibodies), western analysis, and NADPH diaphorase (NADPH-d) histochemistry. In situ hybridization using a common probe for known isoforms of NOS showed that NOS mRNA was strongly expressed in mucosal cells. A gradient in the degree of hybridization was noted from the base of the crypts to the luminal surface. This gradient was also apparent using an endothelial NOS (eNOS)-specific probe. Neural NOS-like immunoreactivity (nNOS-LI) was observed in columnar epithelial cells, and the same population of cells was stained with NADPH-d. Endothelial NOS-like immunoreactivity (eNOS-LI) was also found in mucosal cells; however, this eNOS-LI was confined to mucous cells. These cells were not stained with NADPH-d. The existence of cNOS in mucosal cells was confirmed by in situ hybridization using the probe which specifically hybridized with mRNA of eNOS and by western blots which demonstrated the expression of a 135-kDa protein in mucosal homogenates. The differential expression of NOS isoforms and the gradient in expression along the length of the crypts suggest complex roles for NO in the development of colonic epithelial cells and in secretion and transport functions of the colonic mucosa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Nevada School of Medicine, 89557, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Burton Horowitz, Sean M. Ward & Kenton M. Sanders

  2. Abbott Labs, One Abbott Park Road, 60064, Abbott Park, IL, USA

    Jennifer S. Pollock

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Box 238, 22908, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Chun Xue

  4. Department of Anatomy, Nagoya University School of Medicine, 466, Nagoya, Japan

    Shigeko Torihashi & Shigeru Kobayashi

Authors
  1. Shigeko Torihashi
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  2. Burton Horowitz
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  3. Jennifer S. Pollock
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  4. Sean M. Ward
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  5. Chun Xue
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  6. Shigeru Kobayashi
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  7. Kenton M. Sanders
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Torihashi, S., Horowitz, B., Pollock, J.S. et al. Expression of nitric oxide synthase in mucosal cells of the canine colon. Histochem Cell Biol 105, 33–41 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01450876

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01450876

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