Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0155339 (Brown)
 12,436 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is the major site of non-shivering thermogenesis in rodents. Rapid angiogenesis is induced in association with adaptive hyperplasia of this tissue when the animal is exposed to cold. We demonstrated previously adrenergic activation of mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in rat BAT and its possible contribution to the cold-induced angiogenesis in this tissue. In the present study, we examined the effect of cold exposure on mRNA expression of other two angiogenic factors, VEGF-B and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), in rats. Conventional Northern blot analysis revealed abundant mRNA expression of VEGF-B as well as VEGF, but not bFGF, in BAT. When rats were exposed to cold at 4 degrees C, the VEGF mRNA level was increased by 2.7-fold in 1-4 hr and returned to the basal level within 24 hr. In contrast, the VEGF-B mRNA level did not change throughout the course of cold exposure. A significant expression of bFGF mRNA was detected in BAT by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To evaluate the tissue bFGF mRNA level quantitatively, a competitive RT-PCR method was developed using a shorter RNA fragment as a competitor. The bFGF mRNA level in BAT was found to increase by 2.3-fold in 4 hr and decreased to the basal level within 24 hr after cold exposure. These results suggest that cold exposure leads to induce VEGF and bFGF rapidly and transiently in BAT, which in turn stimulate the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells in this tissue.
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PMID:Cold-induced mRNA expression of angiogenic factors in rat brown adipose tissue. 1034 92

The objective of the present study was to evaluate age-related changes in the protein and gene expression of modulators of erectile function (nitric oxide [NO] and endothelin-1 [ET-1]) and growth factors such as transforming growth factor (TGF-beta1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the penile tissue of Brown-Norway (BN) rats. Young and old BN male rats were euthanized, and the penile tissue was processed for immunohistochemical and molecular analyses. Total RNA was extracted, and an Access reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) system was used for messenger RNA (mRNA) expression analysis. Immunohistochemical studies showed a decreased expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) protein and an increased staining for ET-1. Quantitative analysis of PCR products revealed decreased levels of VEGF mRNA expression in the old population of rats. The most significant decrease was detected between bands corresponding to splice forms 164 (21%) and 120 (18%). The observed alterations in the gene expression of growth factors such as VEGF may contribute to the abnormal age-related morphological and physiological alterations in the erectile tissue.
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PMID:Altered growth factor expression in the aging penis: the Brown-Norway rat model. 1200 41

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent inflammation, vascular permeability, and angiogenic factor. Variations of the VEGF gene are implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. Previous studies have shown that Brown Norway (BN) rats have higher retinal VEGF levels and more severe retinal vascular leakage than Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats in response to ischemia and diabetes. To investigate the molecular mechanism of vascular leakage in this animal model, F2 progeny were generated by crossbreeding BN and SD rats. Neonatal rats were exposed to hyperoxia to induce oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) models. The F2 rats in response to ischemia have shown a linear distribution of retinal VEGF levels, which is significantly and positively correlated to retinal vascular leakage. We identified a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at upstream stimulating factor-binding site in the VEGF promoter region between BN and SD rats. No differences were found in retinal vascular permeability or VEGF levels between F2 rats with BN, SD, and BN/SD alleles of VEGF SNP. The increased retinal VEGF levels are correlated to ischemia-induced retinal vascular leakage in the OIR rat model. The VEGF mRNA and promoter are not responsible for increased retinal VEGF level and vascular permeability. The up-regulation of VEGF expression activated by a yet to be identified upstream factor or mediator affecting VEGF stability may be associated with a high susceptibility to retinal vascular leakage in BN rats.
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PMID:Rat strain-dependent susceptibility to ischemia-induced retinopathy associated with retinal vascular endothelial growth factor regulation. 1744 32