TISSUE DISTRIBUTION AND LEVELS OF GELSOLIN MESSENGER-RNA IN NORMAL INDIVIDUALS AND PATIENTS WITH GELSOLIN-RELATED AMYLOIDOSIS

We measured quantitatively the mRNA levels of intracellular and secret ory forms of gelsolin, an actin-modulating protein, in human tissues f rom subjects of different ages, The intracellular gelsolin mRNA consti tuted the major type of gelsolin steady-state mRNA in all tissues anal yzed, Both forms of gelsolin were expressed in most adult tissues, wit h particularly high mRNA levels in all types of muscle and interesting ly in skin, Between the adult and infantile tissues the most striking difference in expression levels was found in liver, as the adult liver contained only a subtle amount of gelsolin mRNA, Skin and muscle samp les from patients with gelsolin-related amyloidosis (FAF), with signif icantly increased concentrations of serum gelsolin, did not reveal an increased expression of the gene, and both mutant and wild-type allele s were expressed in equal amounts, The high level of expression of the gelsolin gene in the skin in general could locally contribute to the characteristic skin amyloidosis in FAF patients. (C) 1997 Federation o f European Biochemical Societies.