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Genes Involved in the Adrenal Pathway of Glucocorticoid Synthesis Are Transiently Expressed in the Developing Lung

Laboratory of Ontogeny and Reproduction, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université Québec, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université Laval (P.R.P., Y.T.); Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (P.R.P., Y.T.); and Centre de Recherche en Biologie de la Reproduction (Y.T.), Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec, Canada

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Yves Tremblay, Ontogeny and Reproduction, Room T-1-58, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec, Pavillon Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Laval, 2705 Laurier boulevard, Québec, Québec, Canada G1V 4G2. E-mail: yves.tremblay{at}crchul.ulaval.ca.

We have studied the expression of genes involved in glucocorticoid synthesis in the developing lungs of male and female mouse fetuses on gestation days (GD) 15–18 (surge of surfactant, GD 17; term, GD 19). High levels of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, cytochrome P450 cholesterol side chain cleavage, 3ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, 21- hydroxylase, and 11ß-hydroxylase mRNAs were observed in three of the six litters studied on GD 15 and in none of the 14 litters analyzed between GD 16 and 18. Of these three litters, two showed high expression levels for these five genes in lung tissues from female fetuses only, whereas in the remaining litter, only tissues from male fetuses presented high expression of these genes. In contrast, 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 mRNA level was very low on GD 15 and presented a gradual increase between GD 15 and 18 with no sex difference. Our data indicate that, like the mature adrenal, the fetal lung expresses all genes required in glucocorticoid synthesis from cholesterol. In addition, our results demonstrate that transient expression of these genes on GD 15 in the fetal lung occurs for both male and female fetuses, 2 d before the surge of surfactant synthesis, which is stimulated by glucocorticoids.

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