Tissue Specificity |
Widely expressed in the adult, with highest levels in the mammary gland of lactating rats, very high levels in the lung, intermediate levels in the spinal cord, ovary, adipose tissue, brain (neuronal cell bodies and fibers in the supraoptic and the paraventricular nuclei), heart and testis, and lowest levels in the pituitary gland, kidney, stomach, uterus and pancreas. The lung, testis and uterus mainly contain a large form that looks like apelin-36, whereas the mammary gland seems to contain 2 forms of apelin, a large form close to apelin-36 and a small form close to apelin-13. |