Insulin-like growth factor-I messenger RNA content in the oviduct of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica): changes during growth and development or after estrogen administration.

Complementary DNA (cDNA) of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) of Japanese quail was cloned. The nucleotide sequence analysis of the cDNA showed that only seven bases differed from those of chicken IGF-I cDNA in the 440 bases of the cloned region. This difference in nucleotide sequence did not cause changes in the amino acid sequence. Using this cloned cDNA, the changes in IGF-I mRNA content in the tissues of female quail during growth and development were investigated. In the oviduct, IGF-I mRNA was high about 5 weeks after hatching, concomitant with the rapid increase in total DNA content in this tissue (and the increases in total RNA content and RNA/DNA ratio). It decreased after 6 weeks, in accordance with the appearance of ovalbumin mRNA. When immature quails (6-day-old) were injected with diethylstilbestrol (DES), induction of IGF-I mRNA was observed after 24 hr. A few days later, there was a strong induction of ovalbumin mRNA. These two inductions were dependent on the dose of DES. The sequential inductions of these two mRNAs were also noted when DES was re-administered to the immature quail to which it had been first administered and from which then withdrawn. The present results showed that IGF-I gene is expressed extensively during development of the oviduct, probably in accordance with the activity of DNA replication, because the highest IGF-I mRNA content was observed when the total DNA content of the tissues increased extensively. The results suggest that IGF-I in the oviduct of Japanese quail works in an autocrinal or paracrinal mode during the development of this tissue.