Tsukamoto Y, Taira E, Kotani T, Yamate J, Wada S, Takaha N, Miki N, Sakuma S
Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Agriculture, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan.
Cell Growth Differ. 1996 Dec;7(12):1761-7.
Gicerin is a novel cell adhesion protein that belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily. Gicerin protein adheres to neurite outgrowth factor, an extracellular matrix protein in the laminin family, and also exhibits homophilic adhesion. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of gicerin and neurite outgrowth factor in tracheal development and regeneration. In an early embryonic stage, gicerin protein was highly expressed in tracheal epithelial cells, but not in loosely arranged mesenchymal cells. During development, mesenchymal cells become condensed around the tracheal epithelium and then differentiate into muscle and cartilage; high levels of gicerin expression were observed in these cells. In the later embryonic and posthatching stages, no gicerin expression was detected in tracheal epithelium or cartilage. In addition, expression of gicerin increased transiently in the tracheal epithelium during the regeneration after tracheitis induced by the infectious bronchitis virus. Furthermore, a polyclonal antibody against gicerin inhibited the epithelial regeneration in tracheal organ cultures. These findings suggest that glcerin plays an important role in both tracheal development and regeneration.
Gicerin是一种属于免疫球蛋白超家族的新型细胞粘附蛋白。Gicerin蛋白可粘附于神经突生长因子（层粘连蛋白家族中的一种细胞外基质蛋白），并且还表现出同种亲和性粘附。在本研究中，我们调查了gicerin和神经突生长因子在气管发育和再生中的作用。在胚胎早期阶段，gicerin蛋白在气管上皮细胞中高度表达，但在松散排列的间充质细胞中不表达。在发育过程中，间充质细胞在气管上皮周围聚集，然后分化为肌肉和软骨；在这些细胞中观察到高水平的gicerin表达。在胚胎后期和孵化后阶段，在气管上皮或软骨中未检测到gicerin表达。此外，在感染性支气管炎病毒诱导的气管炎后的再生过程中，气管上皮中的gicerin表达会短暂增加。此外，一种针对gicerin的多克隆抗体抑制了气管器官培养中的上皮再生。这些发现表明，甘油蛋白在气管发育和再生中均起重要作用。
