Ano1 is a better marker than c-Kit for transcript analysis of single interstitial cells of Cajal in culture

Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters

Jan D. Huizinga³  Xuan-Yu Wang³  Raúl Loera-Valencia²  George W. J. Wright³  Carlos Barajas-López¹ 

[1] División de Biología Molecular, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, San Luis Potosí, México$$;División de Biología Molecular, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, San Luis Potosí, México$$Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, HSC-3N8, Hamilton, Canada$$;Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, HSC-3N8, Hamilton, Canada$$

关键词: Interstitial cells of Cajal;    Multiplexed RT-PCR;    Single-cell PCR;    Transcriptional regulation;    ICC marker;    Small intestine;    Primary cultures;    Pacemaker cells;   

DOI  :  10.2478/s11658-014-0214-4

学科分类：分子生物学，细胞生物学和基因

来源: Uniwersytet Wroclawski * Wydzial Biotechnologii / University of Wroclaw, Faculty of Biotechnology

【 摘 要 】

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) drive the slow wave-associated contractions in the small intestine. A commonly used marker for these cells is c-Kit, but another marker named Ano1 was recently described. This study uses single-cell RT-PCR, qPCR and immunohistochemistry to determine if Ano1 could be reliably used as a molecular marker for ICC in single-cell mRNA analysis. Here, we report on the relationship between the expression of c-Kit and Ano1 in single ICC in culture. We observed that Ano1 is expressed in more than 60% of the collected cells, whereas c-Kit is found only in 22% of the cells (n = 18). When we stained ICC primary cultures for c-KIT and ANO1 protein, we found complete co-localization in all the preparations. We propose that this difference is due to the regulation of c-Kit mRNA in culture. This regulation gives rise to low levels of its transcript, while Ano1 is expressed more prominently in culture on day 4. We also propose that Ano1 is more suitable for single-cell expression analysis as a marker for cell identity than c-Kit at the mRNA level. We hope this evidence will help to validate and increase the success of future studies characterizing single ICC expression patterns.

【 授权许可】

Unknown