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Cloning and expression pattern of EPAS1 in the chicken embryo
Author(s) -
Favier Judith,
Kempf Hervé,
Corvol Pierre,
Gasc Jean-Marie
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(99)01476-3
Subject(s) - biology , transcription factor , embryo , tyrosine hydroxylase , in situ hybridization , cloning (programming) , microbiology and biotechnology , messenger rna , gene , immunohistochemistry , genetics , immunology , computer science , programming language
EPAS1 is a hypoxia‐inducible transcription factor, highly expressed in vasculature and recently shown to be necessary for catecholamine production during embryogenesis. We report here the cloning and detailed expression pattern of this factor in the chicken embryo. We show that chicken EPAS1 presents an overall identity of 76% with the human sequence and that it is strongly expressed in the blood vessel wall, mostly in endothelial cells, but also in vascular smooth muscle cells. Moreover, we report non‐vascular expression sites: liver, kidney, and, quite interestingly, cells of the sympathetic nervous system where EPAS1 is coexpressed with one of its putative target genes, the tyrosine hydroxylase. EPAS1 could therefore represent the link between the vascular system and the sympathetic nervous system, both sensitive to hypoxia.