Expression and localization of paxillin in rat pancreas during development

AIM： To investigate the expression and localization of paxillin in rat pancreas during development.METHODS： Pancreata from Sprague Dawley rat fe- tuses, embryos, young animals, and adult animals were used in this study. Expression levels of paxillin in pan- creata of different development stages were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. To identify the cell location of paxillin in the developing rat pancreas, immunohistochemistry and double-immunofluorescent staining were per- formed using antibodies for specific cell markers and paxillin, respectively.RESULTS： The highest paxillin mRNA level was detected at E15.5 （embryo day 15.5） following a decrease in the later developmental periods （P 〈 0.05 vs E18.5, P0and adult, respectively）, and a progressively increased paxillin protein expression through the transition from E15.5 to adult was detected. The paxillin positive stain- ing was mainly localized in rat islets of Langerhans at each stage tested during pancreas development.CONCLUSION： The dynamic expression of paxillin in rat pancreas from different stages indicates that paxillin might be involved in some aspects of pancreatic devel- opment,