title: Regional distribution of thrombomodulin in human brain.
abstract: Thrombomodulin, an integral membrane protein with important anticoagulant properties, was evaluated for its distribution in blood vessels of human brain. Adjacent sections from frozen human brain were stained for von Willebrand Factor (an endothelium marker) or thrombomodulin. The number of thrombomodulin-positive blood vessels was expressed as a percentage of all blood vessels in a specific area. The density ratio was compared among cortical and subcortical regions in the human brain. Our results indicated that thrombomodulin density in neocortex, cerebellum, medulla and hippocampus was similar. There was, however, significantly less thrombomodulin in putamen (P less than 0.01), pons (P less than 0.001) and mesencephalon (P less than 0.001) compared to neocortex. The regional distribution of thrombomodulin may prove to be helpful for understanding the development of thrombotic diseases of the brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles 90033.
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000906:Antibodies; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009928:Organ Specificity; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis*; D018179:Receptors, Thrombin; D013917:Thrombin / Q000378:metabolism; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D018179:Receptors, Thrombin; D014841:von Willebrand Factor; D013917:Thrombin