Osmotic regulation of UT-B urea transporters in BV2 mouse microglia cell line

Abstract

The UT-B urea transporter plays an important regulatory role in numerous tissues, including the brain. Several studies have found that altered UT-B expression is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. Using mouse BV2 cells with different passages, we assessed UT-B mRNA expression and investigated the effect of changes in external osmolality on UT-B expression in different passages of BV2 microglia cells in mice using the RT-PCR technique. End-point PCR experiments indicated the expression of UT-B transcripts in P13 of BV2 cells, while UT-B was not expressed in either of the other passages of BV2 cells. Changes in external osmolality had no impact on UT-B expression in BV2 cells. These findings suggest that passage number and variable BV2 cell properties may affect UT-B expression.