"Lung specific developmental expression of the Xenopus laevis surfactan" by Brian A. Hyatt, Ernesto R. Resnick et al.

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Title

Lung specific developmental expression of the Xenopus laevis surfactant protein C and B genes

Authors

Brian A. Hyatt, Bethel UniversityFollow
Ernesto R. Resnick
Natalie S. Johnson, Bethel University
Jamie L. Lohr
David N. Cornfield

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Efforts to characterize the mechanisms underlying early lung development have been confounded by the absence of a model that permits study of lung development prior to the onset of endodermal differentiation. Since Xenopus laevis development occurs in an extrauterine environment, we sought to determine whether the classical molecular markers of lung development and function, surfactant protein genes, are expressed in X. laevis. Surfactant protein C (SP-C) is a specific marker for lung development, expressed early in development and exclusively in the lung. Surfactant protein B (SP-B) expression is essential for life, as its absence results in neonatal death in mice and gene mutations have been associated with neonatal respiratory failure in humans. Here, we report the cloning of the first nonmammalian SP-C and SP-B genes (termed xSP-C and xSP-B) using the Xenopus model. The processed mature translated regions of both xSP-C and xSP-B have high homology with both human and mouse genes. xSP-C and xSP-B are both expressed throughout the lung of the X. laevis swimming tadpoles soon after the initiation of lung development as assessed by RT-PCR and whole mount in situ hybridization. The temporal expression patterns of xSP-C and xSP-B are consistent with the expression patterns in mammalian models of lung development. In both the tadpole and the adult X. laevis, xSP-C and xSP-B are expressed only in lung. Knowledge of the sequence and expression pattern of these two surfactant proteins in Xenopus might allow for use of this organism to study early lung development

Department(s)

Biological Sciences

Publication Title

Gene Expression Patterns

Volume

First Page

Last Page

Publication Date

2007

DOI

10.1016/j.modgep.2006.05.001

ISSN

1567-133X

E-ISSN

1872-7298

PubMed ID

16798105

Comments

Student author: Natalie Johnson, Biological Sciences graduate.

Recommended Citation

Hyatt, Brian A.; Resnick, Ernesto R.; Johnson, Natalie S.; Lohr, Jamie L.; and Cornfield, David N., "Lung specific developmental expression of the Xenopus laevis surfactant protein C and B genes" (2007). Biological Sciences Faculty Publications. 38.
https://spark.bethel.edu/biology-faculty/38

Link to Full Text

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