Secretoglobins: Lacrimal Gland-specific Rabbit Lipophilin mRNAs
Susann G. Remington 1*,
Jean M. Crow 1,
and
J. Daniel Nelson 2
1 Ophthalmology, HealthPartners Medical Group and Clinics, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
2 Ophthalmology, HealthPartners Medical Group and Clinics, St. Paul, Minnesota, United States; Ophthalmology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: susann.g.remington{at}healthpartners.com.
 |
Abstract |
|---|
Purpose. RNAs encoding secretoglobin subunits, also known as lipophilins, are found in rabbit lacrimal glands. Some secretoglobins in other species are tissue- and/or sex-specific, while other secretoglobins are expressed in a variety of tissues of both sexes. We determined the tissue-specific and sexual dimorphic expression patterns of rabbit lacrimal gland lipophilins AL, AL2, BL, CL and CL2.
Methods. We compared RNA from male and female rabbit lacrimal glands in differential display analyses, and identified a new rabbit lacrimal gland secretoglobin, lipophilin AL2. We isolated RNA from male and female rabbit harderian, lacrimal, mandibular, sublingual and parotid glands, liver, kidney, pancreas, testes (male), ovary and mammary gland (female). We electrophoresed the RNA in agarose gels, transferred it to nylon membranes, and hybridized labeled cDNA probes encoding lipophilins AL, AL2, BL, and CL/CL2 to RNA in the blots.
Results. We detected rabbit lacrimal gland mRNAs encoding lipophilins AL, AL2, BL, CL and CL2 only in the lacrimal gland. We detected lipophilin AL2 mRNA only in male rabbit lacrimal gland.
Conclusions. In rabbit, lacrimal gland lipophilin expression was found only in the lacrimal gland.
Key Words:
secretoglobins, lacrimal gland, gene expression, lipophilins, sexual dimorphism
