Skip to main content
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1990 Jan 1;171(1):327–332. doi: 10.1084/jem.171.1.327

Tumor necrosis factor mRNA localized to Paneth cells of normal murine intestinal epithelium by in situ hybridization

PMCID: PMC2187650  PMID: 2404082

Abstract

Paneth cells in normal murine small intestine contain TNF mRNA that is readily detectable by in situ hybridization, unlike resident macrophages in lamina propria, which are negative. Northern blot analysis of whole tissue shows the presence of mRNA that has the same electrophoretic mobility as TNF mRNA from activated macrophages. A low level of TNF bioactivity, but no immunoreactivity, was detected in normal small intestine, and TNF production in resting Paneth cells appears to be post-transcriptionally controlled. Typical leukocyte surface membrane markers were not found on Paneth cells, but were expressed by the surrounding lamina propria macrophages. Paneth cells are thus epithelial cells with leukocyte-like secretory potential that may be important in intestinal physiology and pathology.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (436.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Beutler B., Cerami A. The biology of cachectin/TNF--a primary mediator of the host response. Annu Rev Immunol. 1989;7:625–655. doi: 10.1146/annurev.iy.07.040189.003205. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cheng H., Leblond C. P. Origin, differentiation and renewal of the four main epithelial cell types in the mouse small intestine. V. Unitarian Theory of the origin of the four epithelial cell types. Am J Anat. 1974 Dec;141(4):537–561. doi: 10.1002/aja.1001410407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chung L. P., Keshav S., Gordon S. Cloning the human lysozyme cDNA: inverted Alu repeat in the mRNA and in situ hybridization for macrophages and Paneth cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Sep;85(17):6227–6231. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.17.6227. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Deckx R. J., Vantrappen G. R., Parein M. M. Localization of lysozyme activity in a Paneth cell granule fraction. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1967 May 16;139(1):204–207. doi: 10.1016/0005-2744(67)90136-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Erlandsen S. L., Parsons J. A., Taylor T. D. Ultrastructural immunocytochemical localization of lysozyme in the Paneth cells of man. J Histochem Cytochem. 1974 Jun;22(6):401–413. doi: 10.1177/22.6.401. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gordon S. Biology of the macrophage. J Cell Sci Suppl. 1986;4:267–286. doi: 10.1242/jcs.1986.supplement_4.16. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hume D. A., Perry V. H., Gordon S. The mononuclear phagocyte system of the mouse defined by immunohistochemical localisation of antigen F4/80: macrophages associated with epithelia. Anat Rec. 1984 Nov;210(3):503–512. doi: 10.1002/ar.1092100311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lechene de la Porte P., Lafont H., Lombardo D. Immunocytochemical localization of pancreatic carboxylic ester hydrolase in human paneth cells. Histochemistry. 1986;86(2):211–214. doi: 10.1007/BF00493390. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Ouellette A. J., Greco R. M., James M., Frederick D., Naftilan J., Fallon J. T. Developmental regulation of cryptdin, a corticostatin/defensin precursor mRNA in mouse small intestinal crypt epithelium. J Cell Biol. 1989 May;108(5):1687–1695. doi: 10.1083/jcb.108.5.1687. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pennica D., Hayflick J. S., Bringman T. S., Palladino M. A., Goeddel D. V. Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of the cDNA for murine tumor necrosis factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Sep;82(18):6060–6064. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.18.6060. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Satoh Y., Ishikawa K., Tanaka H., Oomori Y., Ono K. Immunohistochemical observations of lysozyme in the Paneth cells of specific-pathogen-free and germ-free mice. Acta Histochem. 1988;83(2):185–188. doi: 10.1016/S0065-1281(88)80055-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES