Autoantibodies against H- and M-subunits of neurofilaments are induced by PC12 cell grafts or lesions into different sites of rat brain.
Since autoantibodies against neurofilaments (NF) were frequently found in neurodegenerative disorders, this work is an attempt to investigate whether the same phenomenon occurs after intracerebral grafting or lesioning. We have thus either grafted PC12 cells or injected culture medium alone into three sites of rat central nervous system (CNS): olfactory bulb (OB), olfactory anterior nucleus (OAN) and hippocampus (HC), all three sites being impaired in Alzheimer's disease. At day 15, rat sera were collected and tested against NF by western blotting. Sera from grafted rats recognized the H- and M-subunits of NF; we have then quantified the autoantibody response by using an ELISA technique. We show that, in all cases of grafts, the autoantibody response against NF significantly increased when compared to controls (normal rats without grafts or lesions) for total immunoglobulin (Ig) amount. In contrast, concerning the Ig isotypes, some differences appeared depending on the implantation site: for grafts into OB, the immune response was of both the IgG and IgM isotypes, into OAN it was mainly of the IgM isotype and into HC, the isotype of antibodies against NF was mostly IgG. In the case of lesions alone into OAN and HC, no significant enhancement of autoantibody response was observed; in contrast, lesions into OB induced an increase in autoantibody response against NF which significantly differed from controls for all Ig isotypes tested. These data point out the diversity of the autoantibody responses following lesions or grafts according to the rat brain areas.
Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, CHRU, Angers, France.
F
F
Dehaut
K
K
Haddad
G
G
Alhayek
A
A
Pouplard-Barthelaix
D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000276:immunology*; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008297:Male; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D009830:Olfactory Bulb / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D016716:PC12 Cells; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D001323:Autoantibodies; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins