title: Presence of low amounts of "neuronal" antigens in cultured human skin fibroblasts.
abstract: To explore the utility of cultured skin fibroblasts in investigating diseases of the nervous system in which constituents characteristic of neurons are involved, sensitive immunochemical methods were used to test for the presence in skin fibroblasts of low amounts of proteins normally used as neuronal markers. The presence of each of the neurofilament triplet proteins and of neuron-specific enolase was demonstrated by immunoblotting and by immunocytochemistry, and of an 86-kDa synapsin-like material by immunoblotting. These observations agree with previous suggestions that readily available cultured fibroblasts may be useful in investigations of disorders in which molecules are involved which are typically associated with neurons in vivo, such as Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Altschul Laboratory for Dementia Research, Cornell University Medical College, Burke Medical Research Institute, White Plains, NY 10605.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Blass
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Rex Sheu
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Bancher
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wisniewski
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvier
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009474:Neurons; D051381:Rats; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins