Er-Qing Wei (#), Yasuyuki Irie, Che-Hui Kuo, Yun Ding, San-Yong Niu,
Eunju Do and Naomasa Miki (*)
Department of Pharmacology, Osaka University Medical School, 2-2, Yamadaoka,
Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
(#) Present address: Department of Pharmacology, Zhejiang Medical University,
Hangzhou 310031, China
(*) To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract: ssCRE-BP/Puralpha is a single stranded DNA-binding
protein and may be involved in gene replication and transcription and in
the development of morphine dependence. We found a ssCRE-BP/Puralpha (45
kDa) in rat lung that was larger than those (40 kDa) identified in rat and
mouse brains and mouse lung. Immunohistochemistry showed that ssCRE-BP/Puralpha
is primarily distributed in the lung epithelium. As allergic inflammation
induces various gene expressions, we investigated the changes of Puralpha
during airway inflammation. Ovalbumin-sensitized rats were used for inducing
allergic airway inflammation. The expression and DNA-binding activity of
45-kDa ssCRE-BP/Puralpha were significantly increased in the sensitized
rat lungs 24 hr after antigen challenge, but not in those of rats nonsensitized
or sensitized with ovalbumin and challenged with saline. Immunohistochemistry
and in situ hybridization demonstrated that the vascular endothelial cells
and numerous infiltrated eosinophils around the airways were stained with
anti-Puralpha antibody. These data suggest that rat lung and the eosinophils
contain a 45-kDa ssCRE-BP/Puralpha that is increased when airway inflammation
occurs.
Keywords: Single stranded DNA-binding protein, ssCRE-BP/Puralpha, Allergic
airway inflammation, Eosinophil, Lung