Expression of the trefoil polypeptide ITF in PC12 cells

Trefoil polypeptides are expressed mainly in the amphibian skin and the gastrointestinal tract of mammals, usually coexpressed with mucin-glycoproteins. Recently, the trefoil polypeptides were shown to be expressed also in different areas of the human and murine brain. To investigate the expression and possible functions of ITF in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells were employed. PC12 cells show a low basal expression of this polypeptide as determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. After treatment with the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone, the second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate and the neurotrophic factor nerve growth factor the expression of the trefoil polypeptide ITF was increased as shown by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and by immunocytochemistry. Since these various stimuli can directly alter the expression level of this peptide we conclude that the presented results may form the basis for further investigations of possible functions of this novel gut-brain polypeptide in neurons using PC12 cells.