Abstract
BackgroundAdrenal glands are essential endocrine organs composed of two embryological distinct tissues. Morphological changes during their development are well described, but less understood with regard to their molecular mechanisms. To identify proteins and pathways, which drive the initial steps of the specification of the endocrine function of the adrenal gland, rat’s adrenal glands were isolated at different embryonic days (E): E14, E16, E18, E19 and postnatal day 1 (P1).ResultsThe alteration of the proteome during the stages E16, E19 and P1 was investigated by combining two dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometric analysis. Out of 594 excised protein spots, 464 spots were identified, resulting in 203 non-redundant proteins. The ontogenic classification of the identified proteins according to their molecular function resulted in 10 different categories, whereas the classification of their biological processes resulted in 19 different groups. This gives an insight into the complex mechanisms underlying adrenal gland development. Interestingly, the expression of retinoic acid pathway proteins was decreased during the development of the adrenal gland, suggesting that this pathway is only important at early stages. On the other hand, key proteins of the cholesterol synthesis increased their expression significantly at E19 revealing the initiation of the endocrine specialization of the adrenal glands.ConclusionsThis study presents the first comprehensive wide proteome analysis of three different stages of embryonic adrenal gland development. The identified proteins, which were expressed in early stages of development, will shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying embryonic development of the adrenal gland.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12953-015-0063-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Adrenal glands are essential endocrine organs composed of two embryological distinct tissues
Preparation and HE staining of the adrenal glands To identify and characterize proteins and pathways involved in the development of the adrenal gland, rats were obtained at different stages of embryonic (E14, Embryonic stage day 16 (E16), E18 and Embryonic stage day 19 (E19)) and neonatal (P1) development and the AGs were obtained (Figure 1A)
The HE staining of the adrenal gland from E19 embryos showed the two distinct tissues of this endocrine organ, the mesodermal cortex, which is the zone of steroid-synthesizing cells and the medulla, which consists of cells arising from the
Summary
Adrenal glands are essential endocrine organs composed of two embryological distinct tissues. Morphological changes during their development are well described, but less understood with regard to their molecular mechanisms. Each gland is composed of two embryological distinct tissues, the mesodermal cortex and the medulla, arising from the neural crest ectoderm. The development of the adrenal gland begins with the migration of neural crest cells toward the coelomic cavity wall and forms a thickening at the medial side of the fetal cortex anlage of the adrenal gland. When the fetal cortex surrounds these cells, they start to differentiate into catecholamine secreting chromaffine cells of the adrenal medulla. Further mesenchymal cells detach from the mesothelium and surround the fetal cortex, building the permanent cortex [5,6]
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