title: RET-like immunostaining of spinal motoneurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
abstract: The receptor tyrosine kinase RET is part of a functional receptor for glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurturin (NTN) which are potent neurotrophic factors for motoneurons. Here, we have studied RET-like immunoreactivity of motoneurons in post-mortem spinal cords of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and in controls. We report that the intensity of RET-like immunostaining of motoneurons in ALS is decreased significantly to 81% of control values. Despite this change, the proportion of all large (>40 micron diameter) motoneurons showing RET-like immunoreactivity in ALS remains high (82-85%) and is not significantly different to controls. The persistence of RET-like immunoreactivity in the majority of large motoneurons in ALS could be important in the design of clinical trials of GDNF and NTN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saint Bartholomew's and The Royal London Hospital School of Medicine and Dentistry, London E1 1BB, UK.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Duberley
authors.forename: I P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anand
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051097:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Receptors; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D012016:Reference Values; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051097:Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Receptors; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C416649:Ret protein, Drosophila