Expression of PDE11A in normal and malignant human tissues.

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 11A (PDE11A) is the newest member in the PDE family. Although the tissue distribution of PDE11A mRNA has been shown, its protein expression pattern has not been well studied. The goal of this report is to investigate the distribution of PDE11A proteins in a wide range of normal and malignant human tissues. We utilized a polyclonal antibody that recognized all four PDE11A isoforms. Its specificity was demonstrated by Western blot analysis on a recombinant human PDE11A protein and native PDE11A proteins in various human tissues. Immunohistochemistry showed that PDE11A is widely expressed. Various degrees of immunoreactivity were observed in the epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells of all tissues examined. The highest expression was in the epithelial, endothelial, and smooth muscle cells of the prostate, Leydig, and spermatogenic cells of the testis, the tubule epithelial cells in the kidney, the epithelial and endothelial cells in the adrenal, the epithelial cells and macrophages in the colon, and the epidermis in the skin. Furthermore, PDE11A expression was also detected in several human carcinomas. Our results suggest that PDE11A might be involved in multiple physiological processes in various organs via its ability to modulate intracellular cAMP and cGMP levels.