Comparative analysis of follistatin-, activin beta A- and activin beta B-mRNA steady-state levels in diverse porcine tissues by multiplex S1 nuclease analysis.

OBJECTIVE The relation of activins (dimers of the beta-subunits of inhibin) and follistatin (FS) (their binding protein) affect the growth and differentiation of many cell types. Activin- and FS-mRNAs show a widespread co-expression throughout the organism, indicating an essential role for the FS/activin system in diverse physiological processes. The present study was performed to investigate FS-, activin betaA-, and activin beta B-mRNA expression in porcine tissues and to compare the relative mRNA tissue distribution by a newly developed multiplex S1 nuclease protection assay. METHODS Twenty micrograms total RNA from different porcine tissues were subjected to multiplex S1 analysis. Specific mRNA expression was determined by measurements of optical densities on autoradiographs. RESULTS Activin beta A-mRNA expression was abundant in the ovary, adrenal gland, fat, vein, artery and uterus, activin beta B-mRNA was highly expressed in the ovary, pituitary, uterus, placenta, aorta and cerebellum. FS-mRNA showed a widespread expression with high levels in ovary, uterus, cerebellum, placenta and fat. The comparison of relative activin beta A-, activin beta B- and FS-mRNA expression within a certain tissue showed a predominance of activin beta A-mRNA in the adrenal gland, fat, artery, spinal cord, cerebrum and colon and of activin beta B-m RNA in pituitary, testis and placenta, while FS-mRNA levels exceeded those of activin subunits in epididymis, liver, lymphoid tissue, muscle, intestine, cerebellum, ovary and uterus. CONCLUSIONS The presented data provide an overview of FS-, activin beta A-, and activin beta B-mRNA steady state levels in porcine tissues.