Originally published as JHC exPRESS on April 14, 2008. doi:10.1369/jhc.2008.950782
Volume 56 (7): 677-685, 2008 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Leptin and the Obesity Receptor (OB-R) in the Small Intestine and Colon: A Colocalization Study
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, the Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark Correspondence to: E. Michael Danielsen, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Building 6.4, the Panum Institute, Blegdamsvej 3, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. E-mail: midan{at}imbg.ku.dk
Leptin is a hormone that plays an important role in overall body energy homeostasis, and the obesity receptor, OB-R, is widely distributed in the organism. In the intestine, a multitude of leptin actions have been reported, but it is currently unclear to what extent the hormone affects the intestinal epithelial cells by an endocrine or exocrine signaling pathway. To elucidate this, the localization of endogenous porcine leptin and OB-R in enterocytes and colonocytes was studied. By immunofluorescence microscopy, both leptin and OB-R were mainly observed in the basolateral membrane of enterocytes and colonocytes but also in the apical microvillar membrane of the cells. By electron microscopy, coclustering of hormone and receptor in the plasma membrane and localization in endosomes was frequently detected at the basolateral surface of the epithelial cells, indicative of leptin signaling activity. In contrast, coclustering occurred less frequently at the apical cell surface, and subapical endosomal localization was hardly detectable. We conclude that leptin action in intestinal epithelial cells takes place at the basolateral plasma membrane, indicating that the hormone uses an endocrine pathway both in the jejunum and colon. In contrast, the data obtained did not provide evidence for an exocrine, lumenal action of the hormone in the intestine. (J Histochem Cytochem 56:677–685, 2008)
Key Words: leptin OB-R intestine jejunum colon enterocyte colonocyte
LEPTIN, the 16-kDa peptide hormone encoded by the ob gene, was originally described as a secretory protein of white adipose tissue acting on the hypothalamus to control energy storage (Zhang et al. 1994
After the initial publication of leptin action in intestinal cells (Morton et al. 1998
It is known that the gastric mucosa secretes leptin not only by an endocrine pathway but also by an exocrine pathway (Cammisotto et al. 2005 Despite the large number of reports previously published on leptin action in the intestine, it is not yet fully clear to what extent the hormone functions by endocrine and/or exocrine pathways. In this study, we therefore performed a colocalization of endogeneous leptin and OB-R by high-resolution immunogold electron microscopy. Both hormone and receptor were detected apically and basolaterally in enterocytes and colonocytes, but only in the latter part of the plasma membrane was close colocalization and presence in endosomes frequently observed.
Reagents and Intestinal Tissues Reagents were obtained from the following commercial suppliers: leptin (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO; http://www.sigma-aldrich.com/); a rabbit antibody to leptin and a mouse antibody to the -chain of Na+/K+-ATPase (cat. no. PA1-051 and MA3-928, respectively; Affinity Bioreagents, Golden, CO, http://www.bioreagents.com/); a rabbit antibody to the leptin receptor (OB-R) (cat. no. sc-8325; Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, http://www.scbt.com/); a rabbit antibody to intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) (cat. no. 0300-1024; Biogenesis, Poole, UK, http://www.biogenesis.co.uk/); secondary Alexa 488/594-conjugated antibodies for immunofluorescence microscopy (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA; http://www.invitrogen.com/); secondary horseradish peroxidase–coupled antibodies for immunoblotting, secondary antibodies for immunogold electron microscopy, and antifade medium (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark; http://www.dako.dk/); and ECL immunoblotting detection reagents (GE Healthcare, Chalfont St. Giles, UK; http://www.gehealthcare.com/dkda/index.html). A rabbit antibody to aminopeptidase N (ApN) used in this study has been described previously elsewhere (Hansen et al. 1987
Segments of adult porcine jejunum, taken
Immunofluorescence Microscopy
Immunogold Electron Microscopy Control experiments were routinely included in parallel by omission of the primary antibodies. Finally, the labeled ultracryosections were examined in a Zeiss EM 900 electron microscope equipped with a Mega View II digital camera (Zeiss; Oberhochen, Germany).
Morphometric Analysis
Subcellular Fractionation
Samples of
Analysis of Detergent-resistant Membranes (DRMs)
Electrophoresis and Immunoblotting
Localization by Immunofluorescence Microscopy of OB-R and Leptin in the Small Intestine and Colon Figure 1A shows the localization of OB-R in the porcine jejunum. The strongest labeling was seen along the lateral sides of the enterocytes, which colocalized with that of the Na+/K+-ATPase, a basolateral marker of epithelial cells (Figures 1B and 1C). In addition, a fainter and more patchy labeling of the apical brush border was detected as well.
In the colon, OB-R was clearly seen lining the basolateral sides of the colonocytes, whereas little labeling was observed along the apical surface (Figure 1D). Figures 2A and 2B shows the distribution of leptin in the villus and crypt regions of the jejunum. In both areas, the leptin labeling of the enterocytes was punctate. The labeling mainly appeared along the lateral sides of the cells, but in addition, a weaker, diffuse labeling was present over the lamina propria.
In the colon, leptin labeling was strongest and most distinct along the basal side of the colonocytes, but the hormone was also seen along the lateral sides. At the apical surface, some amorphous labeling was seen. In addition, a diffuse labeling was present over the lamina propria (Figure 2C). Results of immunofluorescence microscopy showed that the OB-R is mainly localized at the cell surfaces of enterocytes and colonocytes. For both cell types, the most intense labeling was at the basolateral side of the plasma membrane, but distinct apical labeling was also detected, most notably in enterocytes. In addition, endogeneous leptin was detectable both in the jejunum and the colon. Again, labeling was mainly seen basolaterally, but the detectable apical labeling suggests that an immunoactive form of the hormone is present in the lumen of the gut.
Colocalization by Double Immunogold Electron Microscopy
Both OB-R and leptin labeling was seen at a higher intensity at the lateral surfaces of the enterocytes (Figures 3D and 3E). Here, clusters of small and large gold particles were frequently observed, indicating the presence of receptor ligand complexes. Clusters of labeling for both proteins was also frequently seen in endosomes in the vicinity of the lateral surface (Figure 3F). In the colon, relatively small amounts of leptin and OB-R labeling were observed at the apical microvillar surface of the colonocytes (Figures 4A –4C). At the basolateral surface, more immunogold particles, both large (leptin) and small (OB-R), were seen, showing the presence of both ligand and receptor (Figures 4D and 4E). Furthermore, close colocalization of small and large gold particles occurred more frequently than at the apical surface. In addition, both particles were also coclustered in endosomes along the basolateral membrane (Figure 4F). A morphometric analysis of the apical/basolateral labeling density along the plasma membrane of enterocytes and colonocytes is summarized in Table 1 .
No labeling over nuclei or mitochondria was observed for either of the antibodies used, implying that nonspecific reactivity was absent or at a very low level. In summary, leptin and OB-R were detected by immunofluorescence and immunogold microscopy both at the apical and basolateral surfaces of enterocytes and colonocytes. However, the basolateral plasma membrane was the predominant cellular location for receptor and ligand, and close colocalization, indicative of receptor–ligand complexes, was more frequently observed here than at the apical cell surface. Finally, the presence of leptin and OB-R in endosomes along the basolateral but not the apical cell surface suggests that this receptor–ligand system is functional only at the "blood side" of both enterocytes and colonocytes.
Leptin and OB-R in Subcellular Fractions
In the colon, OB-R (as well as ApN) was present in the total membrane fraction but not in the cytosol (Figure 6).
Many proteins destined for insertion in the apical plasma membrane of epithelial cells associate with lipid rafts during intracellular transport (Danielsen 1995
This study was prompted by the fact that, despite the many reports published thus far on leptin action in intestinal cells, the question remains of whether the hormone uses an endocrine or exocrine pathway or both. At the level of light microscopy, several studies have previously localized the intestinal OB-R to the apical and/or basolateral side of enterocytes and colonocytes (Buyse et al. 2001 In this study, we observed the highest labeling intensity for OB-R by fluorescence microscopy at the basolateral surface, whereas the apical labeling of both enterocytes and colonocytes was weaker and patchy. For leptin, the punctate labeling seen mainly along the basolateral surfaces of enterocytes and colonocytes, but also apically, indicates an approximately similar localization as OB-R. Altogether, this implies that receptor activation by ligand binding in principle may take place at both surfaces of intestinal epithelial cells. In search for a closer interaction between OB-R and leptin, we therefore performed immunogold double labeling electron microscopy to detect in situ protein–protein colocalization in the nanometer range.
At the basolateral surface, colocalization of OB-R and leptin by immunogold electron microscopy showed the presence of clusters of large and small gold particles, indicating that functional receptor–ligand complexes form at this part of the plasma membrane. Furthermore, as a member of the cytokine receptor family, OB-R is known to be internalized after ligand binding through clathrin-coated vesicles into early endosomes (Sweeney 2002
At the apical microvillar membrane, labeling for both OB-R and leptin was relatively weak, and clusters of large and small immunogold particles occurred less frequently. Furthermore, in the enterocyte, the labeling for both proteins was mainly seen up along the sides of the microvilli where the dense, actin-based microvillar cytoskeleton sterically prohibits coated pit formation and vesicle internalization. In fact, the enterocyte brush border is known to act effectively as a permeability barrier and does not normally engage in endocytosis after "closure" at the neonatal stage (Rodewald 1970
In summary, the close colocalization of leptin and OB-R seen at the basolateral plasma membrane of enterocytes and colonocytes strongly argues for an endocrine leptin action in intestinal cells. In contrast, the results obtained do not support the notion of a functional interaction between hormone and receptor at the lumenal surface. A physiological role of lumenally secreted gastric leptin therefore remains to be clarified, but interestingly, a recent publication described transcytosis of gastric leptin through duodenal enterocytes to reach the blood circulation (Cammisotto et al. 2007
This work was supported by grants from the Danish Medical Research Council, the Novo-Nordic Foundation, the Augustinus Foundation, and the Beckett Foundation.
Received for publication January 11, 2008; accepted April 2, 2008
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