Immediate early genes of glucocorticoid action on the developing intestine

Prior studies have demonstrated that glucocorticoid hormones elicit functional maturation of the small intestine as evidenced by their ability to induce increases in the expression of various digestive hydrolases, such as sucrase-isomaltase and trehalase. However, these increases have a lag time of approximately 24 h, suggesting that they are secondary effects of hormone action. To identify candidate primary response genes, we performed microarray analysis on pooled RNA from jejunums of untreated postnatal day 8 mouse pups and from littermates who earlier received dexamethasone 2 h. Fluorescent dye-labeled samples were hybridized in quadruplicate to glass-spotted cDNA microarrays containing 15,000 cDNA clones from the National Institute of Aging cDNA clone set. Analysis of the resulting signals using relatively stringent criteria identified 66 transcripts upregulated and 36 downregulated by 2 h of glucocorticoid treatment. Among the upregulated transcripts, the magnitude of the increase detected by microarray ranged from 1.4- to 16-fold. Selected mRNAs from throughout the range were subsequently analyzed by Northern blot analysis. Of 11 mRNAs chosen all were confirmed, and there was a strong correlation between the magnitude of the increase observed from the microarray analysis and from Northern blot analysis. Additional time points showed that these transcripts peaked between 2 and 6 h and had returned to baseline by 24 h. Gene ontology analysis showed pleiotropic effects of dexamethasone on the developing intestine and pointed to genes in the development category as being likely candidates for mediation of glucocorticoid-induced maturation of intestinal function.