Intestinal lactase. Shift in intracellular processing to altered, inactive species in the adult rat

Adult-type hypolactasia and regulation of lactase expression

A common genetically determined polymorphism in the human population leads to two distinct phenotypes in adults, lactase persistence and adult-type hypolactasia (lactase non-persistence). All healthy newborn children express high levels of lactase and are able to digest large quantities of lactose, the main carbohydrate in milk. Individuals with adult-type hypolactasia lose their lactase expression before adulthood and consequently often become lactose intolerant with associated digestive problems (e.g. diarrhoea). In contrast, lactase persistent individuals have a lifelong lactase expression and are able to digest lactose as adults. Lactase persistence can be regarded as the mutant phenotype since other mammals down-regulate their lactase expression after weaning (the postweaning decline). This phenomenon does not occur in lactase persistent individuals. The regulation of lactase expression is mainly transcriptional and it is well established that adult-type hypolactasia is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, whereas persistence is dominant. The recent findings of single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with lactase persistence have made it possible to study the potential mechanisms underlying adult-type hypolactasia. This work has led to the identification of gene-regulatory sequences located far from the lactase gene (LCT). The present review describes the recent advances in the understanding of the regulation of lactase expression and the possible mechanisms behind adult-type hypolactasia.

Transcriptional regulation of pig lactase-phlorizin hydrolase: involvement of HNF-1 and FREACs

BACKGROUND & AIMS

One-kilobase sequence of the upstream fragment of the pig lactase-phlorizin hydrolase gene has been shown to control small intestinal-specific expression and postweaning decline of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase in transgenic mice. The aim of this study was to identify the regulatory DNA elements and transcription factors controlling lactase-phlorizin hydrolase expression.

METHODS

The activity of different lactase-phlorizin hydrolase promoter fragments was investigated by transfection experiments using Caco-2 cells. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays and supershift analyses were used to characterize the interaction between intestinal transcription factors and the identified regulatory elements.

RESULTS

Functional analysis revealed three previously undescribed regulatory regions in the lactase-phlorizin hydrolase promoter: a putative enhancer between -894 and -798 binding hepatocyte nuclear factor (HNF)-1 at position -894 to -880; a repressor-binding element between -278 to -264 to which an HNF-3-like factor is able to bind; and an element between -178 to -164 that binds an activating transcription factor.

CONCLUSIONS

Identification of three new regulatory regions and HNF-1 and HNF-3-like transcription factor as players in the regulation of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase gene transcription has an impact on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind age-dependent, tissue-specific, differentiation-dependent, and regional regulation of expression in the intestine.

Heterogeneity of intestinal lactase activity in children: relationship to lactase-phlorizin hydrolase messenger RNA abundance

Despite extensive study in both humans and nonhuman mammals the mechanisms which regulate intestinal lactase activity, particularly during development, are incompletely understood. Our previous studies of human adults are consistent with an important role of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LPH) mRNA abundance in determining the lactase persistence/nonpersistence phenotypes. Our intent in the present study was to determine the role of LPH mRNA in the regulation of lactase in children. We therefore studied duodenal mucosal biopsies from 39 children undergoing diagnostic upper endoscopy in whom significant small intestinal and nutritional disease was excluded. We found no relationship between the level of LPH mRNA and lactase enzymatic activity. Our observations suggest the importance of posttranscriptional mechanisms in lactase regulation in human children.

Intestinal brush border glycohydrolases: structure, function, and development

The hydrolytic enzymes of the intestinal brush border membrane are essential for the degradation of nutrients to absorbable units. Particularly, the brush border glycohydrolases are responsible for the degradation of di- and oligosaccharides into monosaccharides, and are thus crucial for the energy-intake of humans and other mammals. This review will critically discuss all that is known in the literature about intestinal brush border glycohydrolases. First, we will assess the importance of these enzymes in degradation of dietary carbohydrates. Then, we will closely examine the relevant features of the intestinal epithelium which harbors these glycohydrolases. Each of the glycohydrolytic brush border enzymes will be reviewed with respect to structure, biosynthesis, substrate specificity, hydrolytic mechanism, gene regulation and developmental expression. Finally, intestinal disorders will be discussed that affect the expression of the brush border glycohydrolases. The clinical consequences of these enzyme deficiency disorders will be discussed. Concomitantly, these disorders may provide us with important details regarding the functions and gene expression of these enzymes under specific (pathogenic) circumstances.

The polymorphic expression of lactase in adults is regulated at the messenger RNA level

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Lactase phlorizin hydrolase (LPH) activity is high in infants but declines 80%-90% before adulthood in most mammals, including humans. However, 95% of whites show autosomal dominant inheritance of a lifelong high lactose digesting capacity (LDC). This study attempted to clarify the molecular mechanism(s) of this phenomenon (posttranslational vs. pretranslational).

METHODS

A race- and sex-balanced cohort (n = 20) was studied, and lactose tolerance and levels of jejunal lactase protein, activity, and messenger RNA (mRNA) were measured.

RESULTS

These data confirm that black heritage predicts low LDC, and white heritage predicts high LDC. Lactase breath hydrogen and determination of lactase/sucrase ratio (L/S) from jejunal biopsy specimens divide the group by high and low LDC phenotypes concordantly. All subjects with an L/S ratio > 0.5 had immunodetectable LPH protein and measurably higher LPH mRNA levels than the remaining subjects. LPH mRNA levels are highly correlated with lactase specific activity (r = 0.80) and L/S ratio (r = 0.88).

CONCLUSIONS

The direct correlation between LPH mRNA levels and lactase expression argues that the gene responsible for the human lactase polymorphism regulates the level of LPH mRNA.

The levels of lactase and of sucrase-isomaltase along the rabbit small intestine are regulated both at the mRNA level and post-translationally

We determined along the small intestine of young and adult rabbits the activities of lactase (LPH) and sucrase (SI), the levels of their cognate mRNAs, and examined the in vitro biosynthesis of LPH and pro-SI. Lactase activity is low in the proximal 1/3 of the intestine, whereas the mRNA levels are high. However, the rates of biosynthesis of the LPH forms correlated well with the steady-state levels of LPH mRNA in all segments, indicating that factor(s) acting post-translationally produce a decline in brush border LPH in the proximal small intestine. These factor(s) are not involved in the processing of pro-LPH to mature LPH, since the relative amounts of the various forms of LPH are almost the same along the small intestine. Unexpectedly, we find that also for SI the ratio of activity to mRNA is low in proximal intestine. The biosynthesis of pro-SI correlates with the steady-state levels of its mRNA. Hence, the steady-state levels of LPH and SI along the small intestine are regulated both by mRNA levels and by posttranslational factor(s).

In vitro biosynthesis of lactase in preweaning and adult rabbit

Lactase is synthesized as a high-mannose large precursor (200 kDa) which is subsequently complex-glycosylated (215 kDa) and split into the 150 kDa mature form. The regulatory mechanisms responsible for the decline of activity at weaning are not yet known. We have set up in vitro cultures of intestinal mucosa from suckling and adult rabbit and found that suckling and adult animals synthesize the same four forms of lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LPH) but with a different distribution. In the proximal adult small intestine there is very little 180 kDa form, which is most probably a product of the 215 kDa complex-glycosylated precursor. The 180 kDa form comprises a greater percentage of total LPH in the middle of the small intestine in adult and particularly in suckling rabbits. In the latter tissue this form is apparently more stable than in the adult tissue. Posttranscriptional control of lactase synthesis is therefore different in the various parts of the adult small intestine, and it is different in the suckling as compared to adult tissue.