Coexpression of atrial natriuretic factor and beta-endorphin in a subpopulation of rat splenic macrophages:...

Separate demonstration of immunoreactive (ir) atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and ir-beta-endorphin (beta EP) in macrophages of the rat spleen prompted a reexamination of their distribution and cellular localization in addition to their developmental regulation. Double labeling immunohistochemistry was carried out on paraffin-embedded spleen sections of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Cells stained positive with antiserum (S118) raised against rat ANF-(99-126) were colocalized in more than 95% of cases with immunofluorescent staining of ir beta EP-(1-31) and distributed sparsely throughout the venous sinusoidal regions of the red pulp. In 1- or 5-day monolayer cultures of adherent splenocytes, 11-16% of the cells stained positive for either irANF or ir beta EP. Under these conditions, more than 95% of irANF- and ir beta EP-positive cells were also fluorescence stained for the histiocyte marker S22 or the rat macrophage marker ED-1. Colorimetric in situ hybridization similarly revealed signals for pro-ANF mRNA in more than 95% of ir beta EP-positive adherent cells. Thus, taken together with previous reports, our present findings suggest that in the rat spleen, both ANF and beta EP are produced by the same population of macrophages. However, the tissue levels and processing of the two peptides over the developmental period of the animal differed markedly in several ways. In splenic extracts of 2-day-old neonatal rats, Northern blot analysis and RIA revealed a greater abundance of pro-ANF mRNA signal and an irANF concentration about 6-fold greater than those in 30-day-old animals. In contrast, the ir beta EP concentration did not vary significantly over the same period, consistent with the level of POMC mRNA. Sephadex G-50 gel chromatography of splenic extracts from 2-day-old animals revealed predominantly higher mol wt forms of irANF and ir beta EP. From days 16-60, a significant proportion of irANF eluted in the same fractions as the mature circulating form, rat ANF-(99-126); the proportion of 3.5-kilodalton ir beta EP increased progressively to become the predominant species in adult tissues. Thus, it appears that although ANF and beta EP are coexpressed by the same population of splenic macrophages, they differ markedly during the developmental period with respect to their constitutive regulation.