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Laboratory of Comparative Endocrinology, Zoological Institute, Naamsestraat 61, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
1 Laboratory of Hormone Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences, Uzbekistan
(Requests for offprints should be addressed to C H J Verhoelst; Email: Carla.Verhoelst{at}bio.kuleuven.ac.be)
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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In the current study, a specific polyclonal antiserum against chicken D2 was produced and used to compare the D2 protein distribution with that of D1 and D3 proteins in the choroid plexus, a structure which is of extreme importance for TH uptake in the brain via the bloodbrain barrier. The main function of the choroid plexus, apart from its protective aspect, is the production of the cerebrospinal fluid by a process that requires the movement of Na+, Cl and HCO3 ions from the blood towards the ventricles. By means of this movement, an osmotic gradient is created and H2O can be secreted. The epithelial cells of the choroid plexus are equipped with a number of transporter proteins and ion channels in order to fulfil their responsibility in maintaining a homeostasis in the chemical environment of the brain via cerebrospinal fluid production. The monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8) just recently identified by Friesema et al.(2003) to be a very specific TH transporter, is highly expressed in the choroid plexus of mammalian brain (Simpson 2004). The latter indicates that the transport of thyroid hormones in and eventually out of the brain, via the choroid plexus, is indeed of significant importance.
The staining of D2 protein in the choroid plexus was further examined in this study by comparing dexamethasone (DEX) treated and control chicken embryos. DEX is a synthetic glucocorticoid that, upon administration to chicken embryos, increases both brain D2 activity and mRNA levels (Van der Geyten et al. 2001). This experiment allowed further validation of the antiserum. Taken together, the results obtained from the present study gave rise to a novel hypothesis concerning deiodination and transport of thyroid hormones along the bloodbrain barrier, namely at the level of the choroid plexus.
| Materials and Methods |
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Based on the full-length amino acid D2 sequence of the chicken, described by Gereben et al.(1999), and taking into account the hydropathy profile of this enzyme and possible cross-reactivity with other deiodinases, a specific peptide was chosen for immunization purposes. The following peptide was synthesized and coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin: NH2-(164)PSDGWAAPGISPPS (179)-COOH. New Zealand White rabbits were injected every 3 weeks and blood collection occurred within 710 days after immunization (final bleeding after 8 injections). Serum was separated, snap frozen using a mixture of dry ice and ethanol and stored at 80 °C. The same approach was used for the production of the antisera against chicken D1 and D3, as was described in detail by Verhoelst et al.(2002, 2003). Possible cross-reactivity with the other deiodinases was checked by means of an immunospotting test, in which the three different peptides used for the generation of the respective antisera, namely peptide D1, D3a and the D2 peptide, were spotted on a nitrocellulose membrane. Binding of these peptides to the D2 antiserum was tested using the preimmune D2 antiserum as negative control.
Experiments and tissue preparation
Chicken embryos (Ross, Avibel, Aarschot, Belgium) were injected on day 18 of incubation (E18) with either saline or 50 µg dexamethasone. Four hours after injection the animals were sacrificed and brain tissue was fixed in Bouinhollande solution for 24 h (Sigma). Tissues were washed thereafter for 24 h using running tap water. Before paraffn embedding, the following incubation steps were performed: 50% EtOH (2 h), 70% EtOH (2 h), 95% EtOH (2 h), 100% EtOH (overnight), 1:1 EtOH:xylol (4 h), 100% xylol (4 h), 100% xylol (overnight), 1:1 xylol: paraffn (4 h), 100% paraffn (4 h), 100% paraffn (overnight). Paraffn slices of 7 µm thickness were cut using a historange CBK microtome. The slices were always dried for a minimum 72 h prior to use in immunocytochemical applications.
Immunocytochemical staining
The paraffn slices were hydrated using 100% xylol (2x15 min), 100% EtOH (3 min), 96% EtOH (3 min), 80% EtOH (3 min), 70% EtOH (3 min) and washed in distilled water for 10 secs. Blocking buffer (TBS-Triton X-100+ 5% low fat milk) was applied for 1 h to block the non-specific binding sites. Thereafter, the tissue slices were incubated with a 1:150 dilution of the primary D2 antiserum in TBS-Triton X-100 for 1 h at room temperature and overnight at 4 °C. For the D2 antiserum, both preimmune and exhausted primary antiserum (exhaustion overnight, 4 °C, 200 µg D2 peptide) were tested as negative controls. For the D1 (1:200) and D3 (1:200) antisera, preimmune serum served as a negative control, since exhaustion experiments were already described before (Verhoelst et al. 2002, 2003). The slices were washed twice for 10 min with TBS-Triton X-100. Next, they were incubated with goat-anti-rabbit alkaline phosphatase linked IgG (GAR-AP) (1:250) for 1 h at room temperature. Again, they were washed twice with TBS for 10 min and twice with AP detection buffer (2x10 min). Thereafter, the substrate (NBT/BCIP) was applied (4560 min). The slices were washed in methanol and enclosed with chromoglycerine.
In situ hybridization
Chicken embryos of 18 days old were perfused with 4% PFA. Subsequently, brains were removed and submitted to the following preparative manipulations: 4% PFA (24 h), PBS (24 h), PBS-10% sucrose (24 h). Finally the brains were put in PBS-10% sucrose solution containing 10% gelatine for embedding and preserved at 80 °C. Cryostate sections of 30 µm were made. Thereafter, the sections were prepared in 4% PFA (10 min), PBS (3x5 min), 0.2N HCl (10 min), TEA buffer (10 min), PBS-1% Triton X-100 (30 min) and PBS (3x5 min). Subsequently, the slices were prehybridized for 2 h at room temperature in hybridization buffer (50% formamide, 10% dextran sulphate, 5% Denhardts, 0.625 M NaCl, 0.2 M Na-PIPES pH 6.8 in 50 ml DEPC-AD) containing 0.05 M DTT, 250 µg/µl denatured herring sperm and 250 µg/µl yeast tRNA. Afterwards, the sections were hybridized under coverslips overnight at 80 °C in the same hybridization buffer containing a 1:1000 dilution of a digoxigenin-labeled cRNA probe. The probes were generated by performing PCR using forward primer: 5' (1027)-GCT GGT GGA AGA GTT CTC TGG AGT-10503' and reverse primer: 5' (1262)-GCA CAC TCG CTC AAA TGA AAC CCC-(1285)3'. The thus obtained 260 bp PCR fragment was subsequently subcloned in a PCR II-TOPO plasmid vector (Invitrogen). The sense probe was digested with SacI, while the antisense probe was cut using ApaI, allowing amplification of the cRNA probes using the T7 and SP6 transcription kit (Roche) respectively and DIG-labelled dNTP (Roche). After hybridization, the sections were washed for 45 min at 72 °C in 0.2xsodium saline citrate (SSC), 2x5 min 0.2xSSC at room temperature and 3x5 min in PBS-0.1% Triton X-100 at room temperature. Thereafter, the sections were incubated for 1 h with PBS-BSA-Triton X-100 containing 0.1 M lysine to reduce background signal. Per section, 0.5 ml anti-DIG antibodies (1:5000, in PBS-BSA-Triton X-100) were added and incubation continued overnight at 4 °C. The alkaline phosphatase signal was detected using the NBT/BCIP chromogen system (Roche) according to the manufacturers guidelines.
All products used were of the highest quality commercially available. The K U Leuven Ethical Committee for Animal Experiments approved all experimental procedures used.
| Results |
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Since, ontogenetically, the epithelium cells of the choroid plexus originate from the ependymal cells lining the ventricle walls, and since at E18 the chicken brain is still developing, the D2 protein staining was monitored there as well. It can be seen in Fig. 1JK
that the cells circumscribing the lining of the lateral ventricle and those around the third ventricle stained positively using the D2 antiserum in comparison with the preimmune serum (Fig. 1I
). These cells are called ependymal cells and tend to be arranged in monolayers of cuboidal to columnar epithelium upon differentiation.
In the dexamethasone injection experiment, a dilution of 1:200 was used for the primary D2 antiserum. Comparing the results of the control animals versus the DEX treated animals shows that DEX treatment causes the D2 protein staining to increase. The cuboidal cells are immuno positive in both cases but the intensity of the AP staining is clearly higher in the DEX treated section (Fig. 1L,M
).
In situ hybridization shows the distribution of D2 mRNA in elongated cell clusters throughout the brain. Furthermore, it confirms the presence of D2 mRNA in the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus. Comparison of the negative control slice hybridized with the sense probe (Fig. 2A
) with the slice hybridized with the antisense probe (Fig. 2B
) reveals a clear D2 mRNA expression.
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| Discussion |
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However, the data resulting from the current study, namely the expression of the D2 protein in the choroid plexus, implicates the introduction of a new hypothesis concerning TH transport and communication pathways of different neuronal and non-neuronal cells in chicken brain. To better understand this hypothesis, it is of extreme importance to be familiar with the structure and function of the choroid plexus in general. The choroid plexus has a lobulated appearance and consists of a single epithelial cell layer that surrounds the central vascular core. The choroidal epithelial cells originate from the ependymal lining of the ventricles, while the blood vessels and connective tissue that represent the core originate from a vascular fold of the pia mater, namely the tela choroidea. The central core of the choroid plexus contains an unusually large number of capillaries, with very thin endothelial walls that do not possess a bloodbrain barrier due to the fact that these capillaries are fenestrated. The epithelial cells of the choroid plexus on the other hand are designed to form a barrier between the blood and the brain. The ependymal cells are polarized, as are many other secretory epithelia, and consist of an apical (ventricle facing) and basolateral (blood facing) membrane (Speake et al. 2001). In mammals, it is described that T4 enters the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus from the blood via the basolateral membrane. These epithelial cells produce the binding protein TTR, which is known to be a carrier protein for thyroid hormones in general. In mammals, TTR has a higher affinity for T4 in comparison to T3 (Schreiber et al. 2002). This is why T4 binds to the TTR either in the choroidal epithelium or in the cerebrospinal fluid, which allows the transport of the lipophilic TH through the CSF. Thyroxine can reach the subarachnoidal space and can flow towards the rest of the brain coupled to TTR (Fig. 3
). It is described that T4 will be deiodinated by D2 mainly in the astroglial cells (Guadaño-Ferraz et al. 1997). The production of the active T3 is thus mainly guaranteed by these neuron-supporting cells. Triiodothyronine is then supplied to the neurons, which mainly express D3, for further deiodination and inactivation of the thyroid hormones (Guadaño-Ferraz et al. 1997). In chicken, it has been shown that D3 protein is expressed in the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum, again a proof of a neuronal D3 expression (Verhoelst et al. 2002). However, the present study reports the presence of D2 in a non-neuronal cell type, namely the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus. If the avian bloodbrain barrier mechanism is similar to that of mammals, the high expression of the D2 protein in the choroidal epithelial cells seems rather surprising. It has been proven, however, that chicken TTR shows little affinity for T4, while it binds T3 very well (Chang et al. 1999). This would explain why the D2 protein is indeed present in the choroid plexus. The D2 protein deiodinates T4 that enters the choroid plexus via the basolateral membrane in order to form T3, which can subsequently bind to TTR to allow further transport through the cerebrospinal fluid (Fig. 3
). This would suggest that astrocytes are not the sole source for active neuronal TH and that both the choroid plexus and the astroglial cells might be responsible for the T3 flow towards the neurons. Further support for this similar function of the astrocytes and the choroidal epithelial cells comes from their developmental origin. As mentioned before, the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus are generated by fusion of the ependymal cells lining the ventricles and the pia mater. The ependymal cells lining the ventricular cavities, however, do not solely give rise to the choroidal epithelial cells but partially differentiate to form glial cells, like astrocytes, as well. This common origin of both types of cells may explain their similar TH-activating task. Furthermore, the immunohistochemical stainings performed in this study showed the staining of the cells migrating from the lining of the lateral ventricle, indicating that D2 protein is already present in these cells. Therefore, the authors propose this new hypothesis concerning the transport of thyroid hormones in the cerebrospinal fluid in chicken. A schedule based on the earlier published mammalian bloodbrain barrier mechanism is introduced. Whether the expression of D2 protein in the embryonic chicken choroid plexus is a temporary, and thus a transient development related expression, should be elucidated further.
In conclusion, the present study reports, for the first time, the expression of D2 in the cuboidal epithelial cells of the choroid plexus. No expression of other deiodinase proteins could be found at the level of this bloodbrain barrier. Dexamethasone treatment led to an up-regulation of the D2 protein in the cuboidal cells of the choroid plexus. This is the first evidence of the D2 enzyme in this vertebrate bloodbrain barrier structure so far. The presence of D2 protein in the choroid plexus, along with the expression of D2 enzyme along the lining of the ventricular walls, leads to the proposal of a novel mechanism concerning the transport of thyroid hormones along the blood-brain barrier in birds in comparison with the previously established working mechanism for mammalian TH transport.
| Acknowledgements |
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| References |
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Received 13 May 2004
Accepted 14 July 2004
Made available online as an Accepted Preprint 27 July 2004
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