In vivo evidence for the role of RegI in gastric regeneration: transgenic overexpression of RegI accelerates the healing of experimental gastric ulcers

On the basis of its temporal and spatial pattern of expression during the healing of gastric ulcers, RegI is implied to be a key growth factor governing the gastric progenitor cell proliferation, which is fundamental for reconstruction of the gastric tissue; however, there is no direct in vivo evidence. The aim of this study was to use RegI-transgenic (Tg) mice to test the role of RegI protein in the healing of experimentally induced gastric ulcers. The stomachs from 48 pairs of wild-type (Wt) and Tg littermates were examined for gastric erosions after 24 h of water-immersion stress, or, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h after oral administration of HCl/ethanol. Expression levels of c-fos and c-myc proto-oncogenes were examined over time by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR to assess gastric cell proliferation. Almost all the littermate pairs tested showed superiority of Tg mice over Wt mice in the ability of decreasing ulcer index (UI) (cumulative length of erosion). The time-course study revealed that the UIs of Tg were lower in the healing phase, and not in the injury phase. The fraction of proliferating cells was higher in Tg mice than in Wt mice throughout the time course as assessed by c-fos expression levels. This is the first in vivo evidence that RegI has a role in gastric ulcer healing. We suggest that RegI exerts its effects by promoting growth and not by cytoprotection.