Lin J, Holzman I R, Jiang P, Babyatsky M W
Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA.
Biol Neonate. 1999 Aug;76(2):92-7. doi: 10.1159/000014146.
Intestinal trefoil factor (ITF or TFF3), a small peptide secreted at the mucosal surface by goblet cells throughout the mature intestine, appears to play important roles in the maintenance and repair of the intestinal mucosal barrier. To study the expression of TFF3 during development, intestinal tissues were collected from rats at different development stages and examined by Northern blot analysis, Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical staining for TFF3 mRNA and protein expression. The results demonstrate that rat TFF3 mRNA is not detected until the 17th gestational day (term = 22 days), the expression is greater on gestational day 20 and increased further postnatally. TFF3 protein is first detected by Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining on gestational day 20. Further increases in TFF3 protein expression are demonstrated at around the weaning period. In conclusion, significant expression of rat TFF3 commences late in gestation and its expression is relatively deficient in immature rats. Expression of TFF3 may be deficient in premature infants and, therefore, may have a role in the development of necrotizing enterocolitis.
肠三叶因子（ITF或TFF3）是一种由整个成熟肠道的杯状细胞在黏膜表面分泌的小肽，似乎在肠黏膜屏障的维持和修复中发挥重要作用。为了研究TFF3在发育过程中的表达情况，从不同发育阶段的大鼠收集肠道组织，并通过Northern印迹分析、Western印迹分析以及针对TFF3 mRNA和蛋白质表达的免疫组织化学染色进行检测。结果表明，直到妊娠第17天（足月为22天）才检测到大鼠TFF3 mRNA，在妊娠第20天表达更高，并且在出生后进一步增加。在妊娠第20天通过Western印迹和免疫组织化学染色首次检测到TFF3蛋白。在断奶期左右，TFF3蛋白表达进一步增加。总之，大鼠TFF3的显著表达在妊娠后期开始，并且在未成熟大鼠中其表达相对不足。TFF3的表达在早产儿中可能不足，因此可能在坏死性小肠结肠炎的发生中起作用。
