Antizyme inhibitor 2 hypomorphic mice. New patterns of expression in pancreas and adrenal glands suggest a role in secretory processes

PLoS One. 2013 Jul 12;8(7):e69188. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069188. Print 2013.

Abstract

The intracellular levels of polyamines, polycations implicated in proliferation, differentiation and cell survival, are regulated by controlling their biosynthesis, catabolism and transport. Antizymes and antizyme inhibitors are key regulatory proteins of polyamine levels by affecting ornithine decarboxylase, the rate-limiting biosynthetic enzyme, and polyamine uptake. We recently described the molecular function of a novel antizyme inhibitor (AZIN2). However, the physiological function of AZIN2 in mammals is mostly unknown. To gain insight on the tissue expression profile of AZIN2 and to find its possible physiological role, we have generated, transgenic mice with severe Azin2 hypomorphism. This mouse model expresses transgenic bacterial β-D-galactosidase as a reporter gene, under the control of the Azin2 endogenous promoter, what allows a very sensitive and specific detection of the expression of the gene in the different tissues of transgenic mice. The biochemical and histochemical analyses of β-D-galactosidase together with the quantification of Azin2 mRNA levels, corroborated that AZIN2 is mainly expressed in testis and brain, and showed for the first time that AZIN2 is also expressed in the adrenal glands and pancreas. In these tissues, AZIN2 was not expressed in all type of cells, but rather in specific type of cells. Thus, AZIN2 was mainly found in the haploid germinal cells of the testis and in different brain regions such as hippocampus and cerebellum, particularly in specific type of neurons. In the adrenal glands and pancreas, the expression was restricted to the adrenal medulla and to the Langerhans islets, respectively. Interestingly, plasma insulin levels were significantly reduced in the transgenic mice. These results support the idea that AZIN2 may have a role in the modulation of reproductory and secretory functions and that this mouse model might be an interesting tool for the progress of our understanding on the role of AZIN2 and polyamines in specific mammalian cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adrenal Glands / cytology
  • Adrenal Glands / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Carrier Proteins / genetics
  • Carrier Proteins / metabolism*
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Genes, Reporter
  • Homozygote
  • Insulin / blood
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Organ Specificity
  • Pancreas / cytology
  • Pancreas / metabolism*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Secretory Pathway*
  • beta-Galactosidase / metabolism

Substances

  • Carrier Proteins
  • Insulin
  • antizyme inhibitor 2, mouse
  • beta-Galactosidase

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants 08681/PI/08 from Seneca Foundation (Autonomous Community of Murcia), and SAF2008-03638 and SAF2011-29051 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, and FEDER funds from The European Community. BRM and AL were recipients of fellowships (FPU) from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spain). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.