Volume 52 (10): 1313-1322, 2004 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Expression of Carbonic Anhydrase IX in Mouse Tissues
Institute of Medical Technology, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland (MH,SP); Centre of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic (MR,SP,JP); and Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland (SP) Correspondence to: Prof. Seppo Parkkila, MD, PhD, Inst. of Medical Technology, University of Tampere, Biokatu 6, 33520 Tampere, Finland. E-mail: Seppo.Parkkila{at}uta.fi
Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) is a unique member of the CA gene family. In contrast to the other isozymes, it has been implicated in regulation of cell proliferation, adhesion, and malignant cell invasion. In a recently described knockout mouse model for CA IX deficiency, the only phenotypic abnormalities were limited to the gastric mucosa, while no changes were observed in the other tissues known to express CA IX in rats and humans. Here we investigated the expression of CA IX mRNA and protein in mouse tissues. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis showed strong staining in the gastric mucosa. Moderate reactions were seen in the colon enterocytes and pancreatic acini. The expression pattern of CA IX was similar in certain human and rodent tissues, although some differences existed, especially in the gut epithelium. Reverse transcriptase PCR analyses surprisingly revealed strong signals for CA IX mRNA in the kidney and skeletal muscle, while the IHC and Western blotting showed no or weak signals for the corresponding protein. This result suggests a tight tissue-specific post-transcriptional control for CA IX expression, possibly related to the physiological demands. (J Histochem Cytochem 52:13131321, 2004)
Key Words: carbonic anhydrase expression mouse immunohistochemistry PCR
CARBONIC ANHYDRASES (CAs) form a family of zinc-containing metalloenzymes that catalyze the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide according to the following reaction: CO2 + H2O H2CO3 H+ + HCO3. The first reaction is catalyzed by CAs and the second part of the reaction occurs instantaneously (Breton 2001
CA IX is composed of four domains: it has an N-terminal proteoglycan domain, a CA catalytic domain, a transmembrane region, and a short cytoplasmic tail (Opavsk
The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of CA IX in mouse tissues by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry (IHC). This has become an important area of investigation because a knockout mouse model with CA IX deficiency has been recently described (Ortova Gut et al. 2002
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Method The expression of CA IX mRNA in mouse tissues was examined using a cDNA kit (MTC panel I) purchased from BD Biosciences (Palo Alto, CA). The mouse MTC panel I contained first-strand cDNA preparations produced from poly A RNAs isolated from 12 different mouse tissues. The first-strand cDNA was the template in the PCR reaction and specific primers for CA IX were used to reveal the tissues containing CA IX mRNA. In addition, primers for mouse ß-actin were used to monitor the possible differences in cDNA concentrations. mRNA was isolated using TRIZOL reagent (Invitrogen; Carlsbad, CA) from the tissues absent from the panel (stomach and gut) as well as from muscle and kidney. Reverse transcription was performed with Mo-MuLV reverse transcriptase (Finnzymes; Espoo, Finland) using random primers (500 µg/ml). The primers for the PCR reaction were designed by using the published information on CA IX mRNA in GenBank (accession number NM_139305). To produce an amplification product of 873 bp, the forward primer (F1) was 5'-GCTCCAAGATTGAGATC-3' (nucleotides 894911) and the reverse primer (R1) 5'-TCTGCCTGCATAGTAAGA-3' (nucleotides 17491766). In the second set of experiments, the forward primer (F2) was 5'-GGAGGCCTGGCAGTTTTGGCT-3' (nucleotides 794814) and the reverse primer (R2) 5'-CTCCAGTTTCTGTCATCTCTGCC-3' (nucleotides 13361358). With these primers the PCR amplification product was predicted to be 565 bp. To confirm the results, we also used a third set of primers: (F3) 5'-CTGGGCGTGGATGTTCTGCCC-3' (nucleotides 212232) and (R3) 5'-CGAGATTTCTTCCAAATGGGACAG-3' (nucleotides 863886), with the resulting PCR product of 675 bp. The primers were produced by Sigma Genosys (Cambridge, UK) and all the other reagents for the PCR reaction were from BD Biosciences except for the dNTP mix, which was from Finnzymes. Five ng of cDNA was used as template. The PCR reaction was carried out on a thermal cycler (Gene Amp PCR system 9700; Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) and the protocol consisted of a 94C denaturation step for 1 min followed by 30 cycles of denaturation at 94C for 30 sec, annealing at 55C for 30 sec, and extension at 72C for 1 min 30 sec, followed by a final extension at 72C for 3 min. The control PCR reaction was performed with the following primers for mouse ß-actin: the forward primer was 5'-GTTGGCATAGAGGTCTTTACG-3' and the reverse primer was 5'-GCCGCATCCTCTTCCTCCCT-3'. The control reaction was carried out according to the following protocol: 94C denaturation step for 1 min followed by 30 cycles of denaturation at 94C for 30 sec, annealing at 60C for 30 sec, and extension at 72C for 40 sec, followed by final extension at 72C for 3 min. The results of the PCR reaction were analyzed using a 1.2% agarose gel containing 0.1 µg/ml ethidium bromide with DNA standard (100-bp DNA Ladder; New England Biolabs, Beverly, MA).
Sequencing of the PCR Products
Western Blotting
The separated proteins were transferred electrophoretically from the gel to a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane (Macherey-Nagel; Düren, Germany) in a Novex Xcell II blot module (Invitrogen). The sample lanes were detected by an ECL detection system (Amersham Biosciences). The membranes were blocked with cow colostral whey (Biotop Oy; Oulu, Finland) diluted 1:10 in TBST buffer (20 mM Tris, 500 mM NaCl, 0.3% Tween-20, pH 7.5) for 25 min. The membranes were then incubated with primary antibody diluted 1:5000 in TBST buffer for 1 hr and washed five times for 5 min in TBST buffer. The production of polyclonal rabbit antibody raised against the recombinant mouse CA IX has been described by Ortova Gut et al. (2002)
Immunohistochemistry Tissue specimens from brain, stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, colon, liver, psoas muscle, kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, spleen, thymus, testis, and epididymis were obtained from two adult mice (Balb/c). The specimens were fixed in Carnoy's fluid (absolute ethanol + chloroform + glacial acetic acid in 6:3:1 ratio) for 20 hr at 4C. The samples were then dehydrated, embedded in paraffin, and 4-µm sections were cut and placed on microscope slides. Immunostaining was performed according to the following protocol: (a) 3% H2O2 in methanol for 5 min; (b) treatment with undiluted cow colostral whey (Biotop) for 30 min and rinsing in PBS; (c) incubation for 1 hr with primary antibody diluted 1:100 in 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in PBS; (d) treatment with undiluted cow colostral whey for 30 min and rinsing in PBS; (e) incubation for 1 hr with second antibody (swine anti-rabbit IgG; DAKO, Glostrup, Denmark) diluted 1:100 in 1% BSA in PBS; (f) incubation with peroxidaseantiperoxidase complex (PAP Rabbit; DAKO) diluted 1:100 in PBS for 30 min; (g) incubation for 2 min 30 sec in DAB solution (6 mg 3,3'-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride; Sigma, St Louis, MO) in 10 ml PBS plus 3,3 µl 30% H2O2; and (h) counterstaining with Mayer's hematoxylin solution (Sigma). The sections were washed in PBS for 5 min after the step a, 3 times for 10 min after steps c and e, and finally four times for 5 min after step f. All incubations and washings were carried out at room temperature. In addition, each washing was performed on an orbital shaker. Finally, the sections were mounted in Entellan Neu (Merck; Darmstadt, Germany) and then examined and photographed with a Zeiss Axioskop 40 microscope (Carl Zeiss; Göttingen, Germany).
PCR and Sequencing The expression of CA IX mRNA in mouse tissues was studied using a commercially available cDNA kit as well as the cDNAs reverse-transcribed from mRNA that we isolated from selected mouse tissues. The mRNA was found in the kidney and muscle and weak bands were also seen in the brain, spleen, lung, and liver (Figure 1 ; Table 1). Heart and testis, as well as 7-day-old, 11-day-old, and 15-day-old embryos were negative. Embryos of 17 days appeared to express CA IX mRNA, which is in accordance with a recent study showing low levels of CA IX protein expression during the first postnatal day (Ortova Gut et al. 2002
Because only low amounts of CA IX mRNA have been reported in kidney and muscle (Ivanov et al. 2001
Western Blotting
To confirm the differential expression of CA IX mRNA vs protein in the kidney and muscle, the same tissues (excised from two mice) were processed in parallel for RT-PCR and Western blotting (Figure 3) . Results of RT-PCR performed with a different pair of primers corresponded well to those obtained in previous analyses and shown in Figure 1. Similarly, a profile of the proteins detected by Western blotting in the same tissues as used for RT-PCR largely agreed with the data in Figure 2. The CA IX-specific protein band was evident in the stomach and colon and was very weak also in the small intestine, but was completely absent from the kidney and muscle.
Immunohistochemistry Immunoperoxidase staining was performed to localize the expression of CA IX in different tissues and cell types. A polyclonal rabbit antibody for mouse CA IX was used to detect this enzyme and pre-immune serum was used for control purposes. Because CA IX has been reported to be present in the gastric mucosa (Ortova Gut et al. 2002
CA IX is an interesting and unique member of the CA gene family with respect to its molecular structure, distribution, and suggested functions. First, it contains two structurally distinct domains, a CA domain and a proteoglycan-like domain, which might contribute to different functions (Opavsk et al. 1996
Even though the expression of CA IX has been quite well established in human and rat tissues (Pastoreková et al. 1997
These results raise two basic questions: first, why CA IX transcription is activated particularly in the muscle and kidney tissues and, second, why there is a contradiction between expression of mRNA and protein. One possible answer for the first question may be related to the presence of a functional hypoxia-response element in the promoter of the mouse Car9 gene (unpublished results), which may allow transcription of CA IX under conditions of lowered oxygen and/or hypoglycemia, similarly as in human tissues. It is quite conceivable that such conditions may be locally present, at least in the muscle. Although this idea is indirectly supported by our finding of considerably increased levels of PCR product specific for the hypoxia-regulated glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene in both muscle and kidney (data not shown), definitive evidence requires further investigation. The response to the second question is also unclear but appears to point at a tissue-specific post-transcriptional regulation. As proved by RT-PCR amplification using different pairs of primers designed to cover whole mRNA, CA IX transcripts in kidney and muscle are intact. Therefore, the reason for the absence of corresponding protein does not appear to reside in production of incomplete polypeptide committed to degradation or of a truncated secretory form. Our results suggest that the translation efficiency of CA IX mRNA can be very low in certain cell types based on the physiological demands of each tissue. It is noteworthy that normal human kidney and muscle show no or only very weak expression of both CA IX protein and mRNA (Liao et al. 1997
The present results provided a good opportunity to compare the CA IX distribution pattern among different species. We have previously shown that it is expressed in the rat stomach, duodenum, colon, and biliary tract as well as the human stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, colon, biliary tract, and pancreas (Pastoreková et al. 1997
The IHC also provided evidence that CA IX might be expressed in some neuronal axons and Purkinje cells. Weak signal was also observed for CA IX mRNA in the brain, while the Western blots of the brain and cerebellum remained negative, possibly due to lower detection sensitivity. We have previously demonstrated the presence of CA XIV in the human and mouse brain (Parkkila et al. 2001
Supported by grants from the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, the Academy of Finland, Bayer Corporation, and Slovak Grant Agencies VEGA (2/3055) and APVT (51-005802).
Received for publication December 16, 2003; accepted May 13, 2004
Bartosová M, Parkkila S, Pohlodek K, Karttunen TJ, Galbavy S, Mucha V, Harris AL, et al. (2002) Expression of carbonic anhydrase IX in breast is associated with malignant tissues and is related to overexpression of c-erbB2. J Pathol 197:314321[CrossRef][Medline] Breton S (2001) The cellular physiology of carbonic anhydrases. JOP 2:159164[Medline] Fujikawa-Adachi K, Nishimori I, Taguchi T, Onishi S (1999) Human mitochondrial carbonic anhydrase VB. cDNA cloning, mRNA expression, subcellular localization, and mapping to chromosome x. J Biol Chem 274:2122821233 Ivanov S, Liao SY, Ivanova A, Danilkovitch-Miagkova A, Tarasova N, Weirich G, Merrill MJ, et al. (2001) Expression of hypoxia-inducible cell-surface transmembrane carbonic anhydrases in human cancer. Am J Pathol 158:905919 Ivanov SV, Kuzmin I, Wei MH, Pack S, Geil L, Johnson BE, Stanbridge EJ, et al. (1998) Down-regulation of transmembrane carbonic anhydrases in renal cell carcinoma cell lines by wild-type von Hippel-Lindau transgenes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:1259612601 Karhumaa P, Leinonen J, Parkkila S, Kaunisto K, Tapanainen J, Rajaniemi H (2001) The identification of secreted carbonic anhydrase VI as a constitutive glycoprotein of human and rat milk. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:1160411608 Kivelä J, Parkkila S, Parkkila AK, Rajaniemi H (1999) A low concentration of carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme VI in whole saliva is associated with caries prevalence. Caries Res 33:178184[CrossRef][Medline] Kivelä AJ, Parkkila S, Saarnio J, Karttunen TJ, Kivelä J, Parkkila AK, Pastoreková S, et al. (2000) Expression of transmembrane carbonic anhydrase isoenzymes IX and XII in normal human pancreas and pancreatic tumours. Histochem Cell Biol 114:197204[Medline] Lehtonen J, Shen B, Vihinen M, Casini A, Scozzafava A, Supuran CT, Parkkila AK, et al. (2004) Characterization of CA XIII, a novel member of the carbonic anhydrase isozyme family. J Biol Chem 279:27192727 Leppilampi M, Saarnio J, Karttunen TJ, Kivelä J, Pastoreková S, Pastorek J, Waheed A, et al. (2003) Carbonic anhydrase isozymes IX and XII in gastric tumors. World J Gastroenterol 9:13981403[Medline] Liao SY, Aurelio ON, Jan K, Závada J, Stanbridge EJ (1997) Identification of the MN/CA9 protein as a reliable diagnostic biomarker of clear cell carcinoma of the kidney. Cancer Res 57:28272831 Liao SY, Brewer C, Závada J, Pastorek J, Pastoreková S, Manetta A, Berman ML, et al. (1994) Identification of the MN antigen as a diagnostic biomarker of cervical intraepithelial squamous and glandular neoplasia and cervical carcinomas. Am J Pathol 145:598609[Abstract] Loncaster JA, Harris AL, Davidson SE, Logue JP, Hunter RD, Wycoff CC, Pastorek J, et al. (2001) Carbonic anhydrase (CA IX) expression, a potential new intrinsic marker of hypoxia: correlations with tumor oxygen measurements and prognosis in locally advanced carcinoma of the cervix. Cancer Res 61:63946399 Mandriota SJ, Turner KJ, Davies DR, Murray PG, Morgan NV, Sowter HM, Wykoff CC, et al. (2002) HIF activation identifies early lesions in VHL kidneys: evidence for site-specific tumor suppressor function in the nephron. Cancer Cell 1:459468[CrossRef][Medline] McKiernan JM, Buttyan R, Bander NH, Stifelman MD, Katz AE, Chen MW, Olsson CA, et al. (1997) Expression of the tumor-associated gene MN: a potential biomarker for human renal cell carcinoma. Cancer Res 57:23622365 Opavsk Ortova Gut M, Parkkila S, Vernerová Z, Rohde E, Závada J, Hocker M, Pastorek J, et al. (2002) Gastric hyperplasia in mice with targeted disruption of the carbonic anhydrase gene Car9. Gastroenterology 123:18891903[CrossRef][Medline] Parkkila S, Parkkila AK, Rajaniemi H, Shah GN, Grubb JH, Waheed A, Sly WS (2001) Expression of membrane-associated carbonic anhydrase XIV on neurons and axons in mouse and human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:19181923 Pastoreková S, Parkkila S, Parkkila AK, Opavsk Saarnio J, Parkkila S, Parkkila AK, Waheed A, Casey MC, Zhou XY, Pastoreková S, et al. (1998) Immunohistochemistry of carbonic anhydrase isozyme IX (MN/CA IX) in human gut reveals polarized expression in the epithelial cells with the highest proliferative capacity. J Histochem Cytochem 46:497504 Sly WS, Hu PY (1995) Human carbonic anhydrases and carbonic anhydrase deficiencies. Annu Rev Biochem 64:375401[CrossRef][Medline] Supuran CT, Scozzafava A (2000) Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors and their therapeutic potential. Exp Opin Ther Patents 10:575600[CrossRef] Svastová E, Zilka N, Zat'ovicová M, Gibadulinová A, Ciampor F, Pastorek J, Pastoreková S (2003) Carbonic anhydrase IX reduces E-cadherin-mediated adhesion of MDCK cells via interaction with beta-catenin. Exp Cell Res 290:332345[CrossRef][Medline] Türeci Ö, Sahin U, Vollmar E, Siemer S, Gottert E, Seitz G, Parkkila AK, et al. (1998) Human carbonic anhydrase XII: cDNA cloning, expression, and chromosomal localization of a carbonic anhydrase gene that is overexpressed in some renal cell cancers. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:76087613 Vermylen P, Roufosse C, Burny A, Verhest A, Bosschaerts T, Pastoreková S, Ninane V, et al. (1999) Carbonic anhydrase IX antigen differentiates between preneoplastic malignant lesions in non-small cell lung carcinoma. Eur Respir J 14:806811 Vullo D, Franchi M, Gallori E, Pastorek J, Scozzafava A, Pastoreková S, Supuran CT (2003) Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: inhibition of the tumor-associated isozyme IX with aromatic and heterocyclic sulfonamides. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 13:10051009[CrossRef][Medline] Wingo T, Tu C, Laipis PJ, Silverman DN (2001) The catalytic properties of human carbonic anhydrase IX. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 288:666669[CrossRef][Medline] Wykoff CC, Beasley NJ, Watson PH, Turner KJ, Pastorek J, Sibtain A, Wilson GD, et al. (2000) Hypoxia-inducible expression of tumor-associated carbonic anhydrases. Cancer Res 60:70757083 Závada J, Závadová Z, Pastorek J, Biesová Z, Jezek J, Velek J (2000) Human tumour-associated cell adhesion protein MN/CA IX: identification of M75 epitope and of the region mediating cell adhesion. Br J Cancer 82:18081813[CrossRef][Medline] Závada J, Závadová Z, Pastoreková S, Ciampor F, Pastorek J, Zelník V (1993) Expression of MaTu-MN protein in human tumor cultures and in clinical specimens. Int J Cancer 54:268274[Medline]
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||