Figure 4. Effects of oestradiol on occludin and ZO-1 expression in the colon of OVX rats.
A, representative Western blot lanes for occludin and ZO-1 from the same protein extract, and quantitative representation of corresponding protein contents from 7 independent experiments. Note that EB significantly increased occludin protein without change in ZO-1 amount. B, RT-PCR results for occludin, ZO-1, and GAPDH mRNA using total RNA from colon lysates of 6 independent experiments. In OVX rats 8 h after a single EB injection (5 mg kg−1), EB significantly increased occludin mRNA, blocked by ICI 182,780 (EB+ICI), without change in the expression of mRNA for ZO-1. Values are means ±s.e.m. Ve: control vehicle. *P < 0.05 vs. corresponding control (Ve).