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It is well known that natriuretic peptides (NPs) are involved in the regulation of gastrointestinal motility. Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are the pacemaker cells of gastrointestinal motility and gastrointestinal dyskinesia is one of the important digestive tract symptoms of depression. However, it is unclear whether they are involved in depression-induced loss of ICC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the natriuretic peptide signaling pathway and depression-induced loss of gastric ICC in depressed rats. These results showed that the expression of c-kit and stem cell factor (SCF) in smooth muscle layers of stomach were down-regulated in depressed rats at the mRNA and protein levels. The expression of natriuretic peptide receptor (NPR)-A, B and C were up-regulated in the stomach of depressed rats at the mRNA and protein levels. NPR-A, B and C can significantly decrease the expression of SCF to treat cultured gastric smooth muscle cells (GSMCs) obtained from normal rats with different concentrations of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP). Pretreatment of cultured GSMCs with 8-Brom-cGMP (8-Br-cGMP, a membrane permeable cGMP analog), cANF (a specific NPR-C agonist) and CNP (10-6 mol/L) demonstrated that 8-Br-cGMP had a similar effect as CNP, but treatment with cANF did not. The results of the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay indicated that high concentrations of cANF (10-6 mol/L) restrained the proliferation of cultured GSMCs. Taken together, these results indicate that the up-regulation of the NPs/NPR-C and NPs/NPR-A, B/cGMP signaling pathways may be involved in depression-induced loss of gastric ICC.

Human stem cell factor initiates a diverse array of cellular responses, including hematopoiesis, cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and survival. To explore the relationship between its structure and function, we produced recombinant soluble human stem cell factor1-165 (wild type) and human stem cell factor1-141 (C-terminal truncated) in a yeast expression system and compared their biological activities and thermal stabilities. The biological activity of the two proteins was measured as a function of TF-1 cell viability and effects on downstream signaling targets after incubation. We found that these proteins enhanced cell viability and downstream signaling to a similar extent, in a dose-dependent manner. The biological activity of recombinant human stem cell factor1-165 was significantly greater than that of recombinant human stem cell factor1-141 after heating the proteins (100 ng/mL) at 25-110°C for 10 minutes (P<0.05 for all temperatures). In addition, circular dichroism spectral analysis indicated that β-sheet structures were altered in recombinant human stem cell factor1-141 but not recombinant human stem cell factor1-165 after heating at 90°C for 15 or 30 min. Molecular modeling and limited proteolytic digestion were also used to compare the thermo stability between human stem cell factor1-165 and human stem cell factor1-141. Together, these data indicate that stem cell factor1-165 is more thermostable than stem cell factor1-141.

The study of regeneration in an in vivo vertebrate system has the potential to reveal targetable genes and pathways that could improve our ability to heal and repair damaged tissue. We have developed a system for clonal labeling of discrete cell lineages and independently inducing gene expression under control of the heat shock promoter in the zebrafish caudal fin. Consequently we are able to test the affects of overexpressing a single gene in the context of regeneration within each of the nine different cell lineage classes that comprise the caudal fin. This can test which lineage is necessary or sufficient to provide gene function. As a first example to demonstrate this approach, we explored which lineages were competent to functionally express the kit ligand a protein as assessed by the local complementation of the mutation in the sparse-like (kitlgatc244b) background. We show that dermal fibroblast expression of kit ligand a robustly supports the rescue of melanocytes in the regenerating caudal fin. kit ligand a expression from skin and osteoblasts results in more modest and variable rescue of melanocytes, while lateral line expression was unable to complement the mutation.

Purpose: To investigate the role of endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) in partial obstruction-induced dysfunction of the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in mice ileum., Materials and Methods: Partial intestinal obstruction was induced surgically in male imprinting control region (ICR) mice. ICC networks were studied by Immunohistochemistry. Electrical activity was recorded by intracellular recording techniques. The expression of ICC phenotype marker c-kit receptor tyrosine kinase (c-kit), membrane binding stem cell factor (mSCF), the endogenous H(2)S biosynthesis enzymes cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) and cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE) was studied by Western blotting. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) mRNA was observed by using real-time polymerase chain reaction., Results: Partial intestinal obstruction resulted in ICC networks were disrupted above obstruction 14 days after the operation. The slow waves of intestinal smooth muscles in the dilated region were significantly suppressed and their amplitude and frequency were reduced, whilst the resting membrane potentials were depolarized. The expression of c-kit and mSCF was significantly decreased, also suggesting the disruption of the ICC network. The expression of TNF-α was significantly increased in the tunica muscularis of the obstructed intestine. Treatment of cultured intestinal smooth muscle cells with TNF-α caused dramatic down regulation of mSCF. The expression of CBS and CSE was significantly decreased in the tunica muscularis of the obstructed intestine. Intraperitoneal injection (i.p) of DL-propargylglycine, an irreversible inhibitor of CSE, and aminooxyacetic acid, an inhibitor of CBS, elevated the expression of TNF-α mRNA in the tunica muscularis of the ileum. Obstruction-induced over expression of TNF-α was significantly improved by supplementation of NaHS, but not the expressions of mSCF and c-kit., Conclusions: The down regulation of endogenous H(2)S biosynthesis is related to over expression of TNF-α in obstructed small intestine. TNF-α-mediated mSCF down-regulation is not the only reason of partial intestinal obstruction-induced loss of ICC.

Background: Renal ischemia leads to apoptosis of tubular epithelial cells and results in decreased renal function. Tissue repair involves re-epithelialization of the tubular basement membrane. Survival of the tubular epithelium following ischemia is therefore important in the successful regeneration of renal tissue. The cytokine stem cell factor (SCF) has been shown to protect the tubular epithelium against apoptosis., Methodology/principal Findings: In a mouse model for renal ischemia/reperfusion injury, we studied how expression of c-KIT on tubular epithelium and its ligand SCF protect cells against apoptosis. Administration of SCF specific antisense oligonucleotides significantly decreased specific staining of SCF following ischemia. Reduced SCF expression resulted in impaired renal function, increased tubular damage and increased tubular epithelial apoptosis, independent of inflammation. In an in vitro hypoxia model, stimulation of tubular epithelial cells with SCF activated survival signaling and decreased apoptosis., Conclusions/significance: Our data indicate an important role for c-KIT and SCF in mediating tubular epithelial cell survival via an autocrine pathway.