Study of ?-defensin rBD-2 gene expression in the pulmonary tissues of the fetal, neonatal and adult rats / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM: To investigate the developmental regulation of ?-defensin rBD-2 gene expression in the rat lung. METHOD: Total RNA was isolated from the pulmonary tissues of the fetal, neonatal and adult rats. RT-PCR were performed with primers (P 1: TTCAGTCATGAGGATCCATT AC; P 2: TGGAACTTGGTCTTTTTATCTAC). The RT-PCR products were cloned into pGEM-T easy vector and the recombinant plasmid was analyzed with EcoR1 digestion and the inserted DNA sequencing was performed on ABI PRISM-377 DNA sequencer. RESULTS: Rat ?-defensin-2 transcripts were detected in all the pulmonary tissues of rats during different developmental stages, e.g. at just before birth, 8 hours and 4 days after birth , and adult. CONCLUSION: The rat ?-defensin-2 is constitutively expressed in the pulmonary tissues, suggesting that ?-defensin-2 may play a role in the lung innate defense against infection.