A gastrin gene is expressed in both porcine pituitary and antral mucosal tissues

By employing S1 nuclease mapping of total RNA isolated from porcine cerebral cortex, cerebellum, hypothalamus, pituitary, kidney, liver, pancreas, intestine, and antral mucosa, we have investigated gastrin gene expression in these tissues. Our results show that a gastrin gene is expressed only in the antral mucosal and pituitary tissues. Based on the amount of gastrin specific probe protected from S1 nuclease digestion in the presence of a given weight of total RNA, the amount of gastrin mRNA present in pituitary is approximately 330 times lower than in antral mucosa. These findings help establish the tissue distribution of gastrin gene expression.