M. Tanaka et al., GROWTH HORMONE-INDEPENDENT EXPRESSION OF INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH-FACTOR-IMESSENGER-RIBONUCLEIC-ACID IN EXTRAHEPATIC TISSUES OF THE CHICKEN, Endocrinology, 137(1), 1996, pp. 30-34
The sex-linked dwarf (SLD) chicken, which lacks GH receptor (GHR), and
its normal littermates provide a useful experimental system to invest
igate OH-dependent cellular responses. The GH dependence of insulin-li
ke growth factor I (IGF-I)expression in tissues was examined in SLD an
d normal chickens of the Gifu 20 strain. Four weeks after hatching, th
e most abundant expression of IGF-I messenger RNA (mRNA) was observed
in liver of normal chickens, whereas no IGF-I mRNA expression was dete
cted in that organ of dwarf chickens. On the contrary, in extrahepatic
tissues such as spleen, lung, brain, kidney, heart, intestine, thymus
, and muscle, IGF-I mRNA expression was equally observed in normal and
GHR-lacking dwarf chickens. In the testis, expression of IGF-I mRNA w
as enhanced by about 5-fold in dwarf chickens, showing an expression l
evel comparable to that in normal liver. On day 16 in the embryonic st
age, IGF-I mRNA was expressed in muscle, brain, eye, heart, and lung i
n both normal and SLD chick embryos. However, no IGF-I mRNA expression
was observed in liver or kidney of normal and dwarf chick embryos. Th
ese results suggest that in chicken, IGF-I mRNA is expressed in liver
in a GH-dependent manner after hatching, whereas in other tissues, mRN
A expression is independent of GH and GHR before and after hatching, e
xcept for testis, in which GH seems to inhibit IGF-I mRNA expression.