Spatiotemporal patterns of sortilin and SorCS2 localization during organ development

Abstract

Background: Sortilin and SorCS2 are part of the Vps10p receptor family. They have both been studied in nervous tissue with several important functions revealed, while their expression and possible functions in developing peripheral tissue remain poorly understood. Here we deliver a thorough characterization of the prenatal localization of sortilin and SorCS2 in mouse peripheral tissue. Results: Sortilin is highly expressed in epithelial tissues of the developing lung, nasal cavity, kidney, pancreas, salivary gland and developing intrahepatic bile ducts. Furthermore tissues such as the thyroid gland, developing cartilage and ossifying bone also show high expression of sortilin together with cell types such as megakaryocytes in the liver. SorCS2 is primarily expressed in mesodermally derived tissues such as striated muscle, adipose tissue, ossifying bone and general connective tissue throughout the body, as well as in lung epithelia. Furthermore, the adrenal gland and liver show high expression of SorCS2 in embryos 13.5 days old. Conclusions: The possible functions relating to the expression patterns of Sortilin and SorCS2 in development are numerous and hopefully this paper will help to generate new hypotheses to further our understanding of the Vps10p receptor family.