Volume 53 (4): 487-495, 2005 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Altered Expression Patterns of Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoproteins A2 and B1 in the Adrenal Cortex
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan (WWW,HK); Kensei General Hospital, Ibaraki, Japan (MF); and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan (YY,HS,HH,TY,EU,YA) Correspondence to: Hiroshi Kamma, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan. E-mail: hkamma{at}md.tsukuba.ac.jp
Several proteins implicated in hormonogenesis of the adrenal cortex have alternatively spliced isoforms, which respond differently to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins A2 and B1 are among the abundant pre-mRNA-binding proteins involved in alternative splicing. We examined the expression of A2 and B1 in normal adrenal cortex and tumors. B1 was variably expressed in the zona fasciculata-reticularis, although A2 was diffusely expressed in the three zones. B1 was more abundant in compact cells than clear cells, and B1 expression was frequent in the zona reticularis, which consists mainly of compact cells. In three kinds of cortical adenomas autonomously producing hormones, B1 was generally overexpressed and there were no significant differences among them. In cortisol-producing tumors, non-tumor parts of the cortex, which were generally atrophic due to low ACTH, had less B1 protein than normal adrenals. These results suggested a correlation between B1 expression and the hormonal activity responding to ACTH. In vitro ACTH stimulation induced a biphasic expression of B1 in an H295R cortical carcinoma cell line, and it paralleled hormonogenesis. Conclusively, B1 expression varied in relation to the hormonal activity responding to the ACTH, and it may provide a key to elucidating the splicing mechanisms involved in hormonogenesis. (J Histochem Cytochem 53:487495, 2005)
Key Words: hnRNP A2/B1 alternative splicing adrenal cortex ACTH hormonal activity
THE ADRENAL is developmentally divided into two parts: the cortex and the medulla. The adrenal cortex produces and secretes aldosterone, cortisol, and adrenogen. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulates cortical cells to produce steroid hormones. The cortex has three morphological zones, all of which have ACTH receptors (Davis et al. 2002
The role of alternative splicing in responsiveness to ACTH is important (Leo et al. 2002
The heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) are a family of nucleic acidbinding proteins and comprise 24 different polypeptides termed hnRNPA1 through hnRNPU (Pinol-Roma et al. 1988 The final goal of our study is to elucidate the alternative splicing mechanism, which is related to the adjustment of cytodifferentiation and steroidogenesis regulation in the adrenal cortex. In this study, the histological expression of the A2 and B1 proteins was examined in the adrenal cortex and functional adrenocortical tumors. Interesting expression patterns were found related to the functional differentiation of the adrenal cortex.
Patients and Tissue Samples The research protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Tsukuba, and all samples were obtained after the patient's approval. Seven normal adrenal samples were obtained from total nephrectomy materials from patients who had renal cell carcinoma without adrenal involvement. Seventeen samples of three kinds of functional adrenocortical adenomas were surgically removed from 10 patients with Conn's syndrome (aldosterone-producing tumors, aldosteronomas), 6 patients with Cushing's syndrome (cortisol-producing tumors), and a case with adrenogenital syndrome (testosterone-producing tumor). For the immunohistochemical study, tissue samples were fixed with 4% phosphate-buffered formaldehyde and paraffin embedded. For Western blotting, tissue samples were frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen. In the adrenocortical adenoma cases, except the case with adrenogenital syndrome, samples were obtained from both tumor and non-tumor parts of the adrenal from the same patient. In the case with the adrenogenital syndrome, the non-tumor part was unavailable as an SDS sample.
Cell Cultures
Preparation of Antibodies and Immunohistochemistry
Paraffin tissue sections were cut into 4-µm-thick slices, deparaffinized, and heated in 0.01 M citrate buffer (pH 6.0) by microwave irradiation for antigenic retrieval. The sections were preincubated with 3% BSA in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) to diminish the background and then incubated with antibodies for 1 hr at room temperature. Bound antibodies were detected by a peroxidase-labeled polymer-conjugated anti-mouse antibody (EnVision+; DAKO, Fort Collins, CO), and reacted with 0.025% 3,3'-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride. Hematoxylin was utilized for counterstaining. To objectively estimate the expression pattern of the A2 and B1 proteins, the positive cells for 4G8 and 2B2 were morphometrically analyzed as described previously (Wu et al. 2002
Gel Electrophoresis and Western Blotting
ACTH Stimulation of H295R Cells
Variable Expression of A2 and B1 Proteins in the Adrenal Immunohistochemically, we studied the expression patterns of A2 and B1 proteins in the adrenal. Monoclonal antibodies 4G8 and 2B2 detect A2 and B1 proteins, respectively, work well in human adrenal tissue, and demonstrate distinctive nuclear staining. The staining intensities of A2 and B1 proteins were variable in the cortex, although they were weaker than in the medulla. A2 and B1 proteins tended to be more strongly detected in the zona reticularis than in the zona fasciculata and glomerulosa. This tendency was quite obvious, especially for B1 protein in comparison to A2 protein (Figure 1). Furthermore, B1 expression was different between cortex cell types, and B1 protein was more abundantly expressed in compact cells than in clear cells (Figure 1). The nuclear-positive ratios for A2 and B1 proteins were calculated and statistically compared among cortical zones and the medulla, and between the two cell types, compact and clear cells, that are distributed in the zona fasciculata-reticularis. In the cortex, B1 expression varied more obviously among cortical zones than did A2 protein expression. B1 protein was highly expressed in the zona reticularis (70%), but was low in the zona glomerulosa and fasciculata (29% and 27%, respectively). On the other hand, the positive ratios for A2 protein were 64%, 68%, and 70% in the three cortical zones, respectively, and they were not significantly different (Figure 2). In the medulla, the positive ratios for both A2 and B1 proteins were high, 85%. Furthermore, in the zona fasciculata-reticularis, compact cells expressed the B1 protein more frequently (78%) than did the clear cells (32%). This expression pattern was significantly different, suggesting that B1 expression is related to cortical cell activity.
Expression of B1 Protein in Functional Cortical Adenomas B1 expression in the three kinds of adrenocortical adenomas that produce aldosterone, cortisol, and testosterone was immunohistochemically studied and compared with B1 expression in the normal cortex (Figure 3). B1 protein was overexpressed in all tumors, and it was generally higher than in the corresponding zones in the normal cortex, although the expression patterns were somewhat similar among the three adenomas. The androgen-producing adenoma, which was composed only of compact cells, showed homogeneous expression throughout the tumor, and the nuclear-positive ratio was 100%. Aldosteronomas were relatively lower in the positive ratio, and the average was 70%. The average of the cortisol-producing tumors was 85%. The positive ratios for B1 were analyzed between the compact and clear components in aldosterone- and cortisol-producing adenomas. In contrast to normal cortical cells, B1 expression was higher in the clear-type tumor cells than in the compact-type ones. Furthermore, we investigated non-tumor parts of adrenal cortex in functional adenoma cases (Figure 4). Interestingly, expression patterns of B1 protein were different between aldosteromas and cortisol-producing adenomas. In aldosteromas, the non-tumor part was not atrophic and showed the same level of B1 expression as the tumor part, whereas in cortisol-producing tumors, the non-tumor parts were atrophic and showed a lower expression level of B1 protein than did the tumor parts.
Quantitative Analysis of hnRNPA2 and B1 Expression in Adrenal Western blotting was performed to confirm A2 and B1 proteins detected by 4G8 and 2B2 antibodies and to estimate their expression amounts in H295R cells derived from a human adrenocortical carcinoma, compared with HeLa cells as control. Antibodies 4G8 and 2B2 detected 36 kD and 38 kD bands corresponding to A2 and B1 in H295R cells as well as in HeLa cells. The relative expression amount of B1 to A2 protein was higher in H295R cells than in HeLa cells (Figure 5). Next, we comparatively estimated the amount of B1 expression between the normal adrenal tissue and tumor tissue (Figure 6). The adrenocortical adenomas clearly displayed strong signals compared with normal adrenal tissues and the non-tumor part of the same patient, although the intensities were variable among the three kinds of adenomas. Interestingly, B1 expression in the non-tumor parts was different between aldosterone- and cortisol-producing adenomas. That of aldostromas was more abundant than in normal adrenals, whereas that of cortisol-producing tumors was less abundant than in normal adrenals.
A2 and B1 Expression in H295R Cells Stimulated by ACTH A2 and B1 protein expression was quantitatively analyzed 72 hr after the addition of various concentrations of ACTH to the H295R cell culture media. B1 expression decreased in a dose-dependent manner, and it was significantly lowered by the addition of 107 M ACTH, which is 104 times higher than the physiological concentration. In contrast, A2 expression did not show a significant difference (Figure 7).
The hormonal activity of H295R cells stimulated by 107 M ACTH was estimated by a time course that monitored intracellular secreted cortisol and DHEA-S, which is an androgen precursor. DHEA-S gradually increased after ACTH addition and reached a plateau, because DHEA-S seldom decomposed in the culture supernatant and, thus, accumulated there (Figure 8). The cortisol failed to show such a noticeable change as DHEA-S, although it gradually increased in the culture supernatant. Thus, H295R cells produced intracellular cholesterol and DHEA-S in a biphasic pattern after ACTH stimulation. A2 and B1 protein expression was also examined in a time course after ACTH stimulation by quantitative Western blotting (Figure 9). B1 expression rapidly increased right after ACTH addition, approximately doubling the original concentration in 24 hr, which was earlier than the cholesterol accumulation. It gradually decreased and then decreased to a level lower than the initial concentration after 72 hr of incubation. In contrast, A2 protein expression gradually decreased. The expression, especially of B1, interestingly paralleled DHEA-S production.
A previous immunoelectron microscopic study suggested that the composition of the hnRNPs changes according to hormone-producing activity in the adrenal cortex (Malatesta et al. 1995
Interestingly, B1 expression was higher in clear-type tumor cells than in compact-type tumor cells, which was reverse to B1 expression in the normal adrenal cortex. Electron microscopic studies of cortical tumors have revealed that clear-type tumor cells have abundant smooth endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria (Eto et al. 1979
In addition, non-tumor parts of the adrenal cortex in cortisol-producing tumors had less B1 protein than in normal adrenals, whereas those in the aldosterone-producing tumors had more B1 protein. The cortical cells in vivo function under a complicated feedback mechanism, which is controlled mainly by ACTH secreted from the pituitary gland. In patients with cortisol-producing tumors, the ACTH serum level is usually low and the non-tumor part is histologically atrophic, indicating low hormonal activity. On the other hand, in patients with aldosterone-producing tumors, ACTH secretion is not suppressed and the non-tumor parts are normal or hyperplastic (Murakoshi et al. 1995
A simple experimental model of cortical hormonogenesis is necessary to show the relationship between B1 expression and ACTH stimulation. The H295R cell line has receptors for ACTH and retains the ability to produce mainly androgen in response to ACTH (Gazdar et al. 1990 In conclusion, we have shown that B1 protein expression is variable in the adrenal cortex, especially in the zona fasciculata-reticularis, and correlates with the producing activity of cortical hormones responding to ACTH stimulation. An additional goal will be to elucidate the alternative splicing mechanism in the adrenal cortex. Further in vivo studies are necessary to clarify the relationship between B1 protein expression and the alternative splicing pattern of regulatory genes such as ACTH receptors, CRE-binding transcription factors, and enzymes involved in steroidogenesis.
Received for publication February 23, 2004; accepted September 30, 2004
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