HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Figures and Tables All Versions of this Article: 35/3/231    most recent 90218.2008v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yue, C. Articles by Gainer, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yue, C. Articles by Gainer, H.

Oxytocin and vasopressin gene expression and RNA splicing patterns in the rat supraoptic nucleus

Molecular Neuroscience Section, Laboratory of Neurochemistry, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland

In this study, we test the hypothesis that there are differential splicing patterns between the expressed oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (VP) genes in the rat supraoptic nucleus (SON). We quantify the low abundance, intron-containing heteronuclear RNAs (hnRNAs) and the higher abundance mRNAs in the SON using two-step, quantitative SYBR Green real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and external standard curves constructed using synthetic 90 nt sense-strand oligonucleotides. The levels of OT and VP mRNA in the SON were found to be similar, 10⁸ copies/SON pair, whereas the copy numbers of VP hnRNAs containing intron 1 or 2 and the OT hnRNA containing intron 1 are much lower, i.e., 10²–10³ copies/rat SON pair. However, the estimated copy number of the intron 2-containing OT hnRNA is much larger, 10⁶ copies/SON pair. The relative distributions of all the OT and VP RNA species were invariant and independent of the physiological status of the rats (e.g., osmotically stimulated or lactating rats). Using intron-specific riboprobes against hnRNAs, we demonstrate by fluorescence in situ hybridization strong signals of OT hnRNA containing intron 2 predominantly in the cytoplasm, in contrast to the localization of the VP hnRNA found only in the nuclei. Taken together, these data support the view that the splicing patterns between OT and VP gene transcripts are different and show that there is a selective cytoplasmic retention of OT intron 2.

real-time polymerase chain reaction; intron retention; hypothalamus