Institute of Molecular Pathobiochemistry, Experimental Gene Therapy and Clinical Chemistry (IFMPEGKC), RWTH University Hospital Aachen, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 25;24(11):9280. doi: 10.3390/ijms24119280.
Estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) is widely expressed in reproductive organs, but also in non-reproductive tissues of females and males. There is evidence that lipocalin 2 (LCN2), which has diverse immunological and metabolic functions, is regulated by ERα in adipose tissue. However, in many other tissues, the impact of ERα on LCN2 expression has not been studied yet. Therefore, we used an -deficient mouse strain and analyzed LCN2 expression in reproductive (ovary, testes) and non-reproductive tissues (kidney, spleen, liver, lung) of both sexes. Tissues collected from adult wild-type (WT) and -deficient animals were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, Western blot analysis, and RT-qPCR for expression. In non-reproductive tissues, only minor genotype- or sex-specific differences in LCN2 expression were detected. In contrast, significant differences in LCN2 expression were observed in reproductive tissues. Particularly, there was a strong increase in LCN2 in -deficient ovaries when compared to WTs. In summary, we found an inverse correlation between the presence of ERα and the expression of LCN2 in testes and ovaries. Our results provide an important basis to better understand LCN2 regulation in the context of hormones and in health and disease.
雌激素受体 alpha（ERα）广泛表达于女性和男性的生殖器官中，但也存在于非生殖组织中。有证据表明，具有多种免疫和代谢功能的脂联素 2（LCN2）在脂肪组织中受 ERα 调控。然而，在许多其他组织中，ERα 对 LCN2 表达的影响尚未得到研究。因此，我们使用了 ER 缺失的小鼠品系，并分析了雌性和雄性生殖组织（卵巢、睾丸）和非生殖组织（肾脏、脾脏、肝脏、肺）中 LCN2 的表达。通过免疫组织化学、Western blot 分析和 RT-qPCR 分析收集自成年野生型（WT）和 ER 缺失型动物的组织中 LCN2 的表达。在非生殖组织中，仅检测到 LCN2 表达的轻微基因型或性别特异性差异。相比之下，在生殖组织中观察到 LCN2 表达的显著差异。特别是，与 WT 相比，ER 缺失型卵巢中的 LCN2 表达明显增加。总之，我们发现 ERα 的存在与睾丸和卵巢中 LCN2 的表达呈负相关。我们的研究结果为更好地理解激素背景下以及健康和疾病中 LCN2 的调控提供了重要基础。
