AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 264, Issue 3 591-R596, Copyright © 1993 by American Physiological Society
Developmental changes in renin gene expression in ovine kidney cortex
G. M. Carbone, A. U. Sheikh, S. Rogers, G. Brewer and J. C. Rose
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157.
The ontogeny of renin mRNA and renin content from renal cortical slices was
studied in two groups of ovine fetuses at 92-94 days (0.64 gestation) and
at 138-142 days (0.96 gestation), newborn lambs (0.4-2 days old), and adult
sheep. Renal renin mRNA was identified by hybridization with a 32P-labeled
full length rat renin cDNA. Renal renin content was measured as nanograms
of angiotensin I generated per hour (active renin). There was a significant
age effect on renin mRNA levels (F = 10.0, P < 0.001); values increase
significantly between 0.64 and 0.95 g (P < 0.005), remain elevated in
the newborns (P < 0.05), and subsequently decline in adulthood (P <
0.005). Likewise, renal renin content was significantly higher in late
gestation fetuses and newborn lambs than in early gestation and adults (F =
8.3, P < 0.003). The renal renin content was strongly correlated with
renin mRNA levels (R = 0.88, P < 0.0001). These results suggest that 1)
the renin gene is developmentally regulated in the ovine kidney and 2) the
renal content of active renin in basal conditions is regulated, at least in
part, by events at the transcriptional level.
