title: Microglial localization of alpha-interferon receptor in human brain tissues.
abstract: The localization of the alpha-interferon receptor (alpha-IFNR) was examined in human brain tissues from neurologically normal, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cerebral infarction cases, using one antibody (IFNaR3) which preferentially recognizes alpha 2-IFN receptor and a second antibody (anti-p40) which recognizes the soluble alpha-IFN alpha/beta receptor. In all cases, microglial cells were stained with the antibodies. In infarct brains, macrophages were intensely labeled for alpha-IFNR. The anti-p40 antibody also showed capillary staining which might be due to residual blood plasma. On Western blots, IFNaR3 recognized only a 210 kDa alpha-IFN/receptor complex, indicating its localization in microglial cells. The anti-p40 antibody recognized this complex as well as four other major materials of lower molecular weight. These results suggest that alpha-IFNR protein is constitutively expressed in microglial cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Chiba University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D017628:Microglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D017471:Receptors, Interferon / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D017471:Receptors, Interferon