Full section samples of adrenal gland

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The Tissue atlas is based on immunohistochemical staining of tissue microarrays from 44 different normal tissue types. In addition to the standard setup, extended tissue profiling is performed for selected proteins, to give a more complete overview on where the protein is expressed. Extended tissue samples include mouse brain, human lactating breast, eye, thymus and additional samples of adrenal gland, skin and brain. For adrenal gland, full section samples were used.

The full list of proteins analyzed in full section adrenal gland is found in Table 1.

Background

The adrenal glands are paired endocrine glands attached on top of each kidney. Each gland consists of an outer cortex and an inner medulla, each with a different type of endocrine tissue; the cortex consists of glandular tissue and the medulla of nervous tissue. The cortex is divided into three layers, namely zona glomerulosa, zona fasciculata and zona reticularis.

Adrenal cortex

The adrenal cortex produces and secretes three types of cholesterol-based steroid hormones; mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids and androgens. The outermost layer of the adrenal cortex is the zona glomerulosa, which produces mineralocorticoids such as aldosterone. Aldosterone is important for the regulation of blood pressure and electrolyte balance. Glucocorticoids, such as cortisol, are produced in the middle layer; zona fasciculata. Functions of glucocorticoids include carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism and immune system suppression. For example, cortisol raises blood glucose levels and cellular synthesis of glucose. The innermost layer of the cortex, zona reticularis, produces androgens (sex hormones) and small amounts of glucocorticoids. An example of a protein expressed in the adrenal cortex is the mitochondrial cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme (CYP11A1), which is involved in drug metabolism and synthesis of cholesterol, steroids and other lipids (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Immunohistochemical staining of full section adrenal gland using an antibody toward CYP11A1 shows strong cytoplasmic positivity in adrenal cortex.

Adrenal medulla

The adrenal medulla produces the catecholamines adrenaline and noradrenaline, which increase heart rate and respiration, and lead to vasodilation and glucose production in the liver. The secretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline is regulated by the autonomous nervous system. An example of a protein expressed in the adrenal medulla is dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH), which converts dopamine to norepinephrine (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Immunohistochemical staining of full section adrenal gland using an antibody toward DBH shows strong cytoplasmic positivity in adrenal medulla.

Table 1. The following 43 genes have been analyzed using full section adrenal gland tissue samples.

Relevant links and publications

Uhlén M et al, 2015. Tissue-based map of the human proteome. Science
PubMed: 25613900 DOI: 10.1126/science.1260419

Yu NY et al, 2015. Complementing tissue characterization by integrating transcriptome profiling from the Human Protein Atlas and from the FANTOM5 consortium. Nucleic Acids Res.
PubMed: 26117540 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkv608

Fagerberg L et al, 2014. Analysis of the human tissue-specific expression by genome-wide integration of transcriptomics and antibody-based proteomics. Mol Cell Proteomics.
PubMed: 24309898 DOI: 10.1074/mcp.M113.035600