title: Evidence that endogenous thymosin alpha-1 is present in the rat central nervous system.
abstract: We have previously reported that administration of Thymosin alpha 1 (T-alpha1) can enhance the level of the Nerve Growth Factor and the distribution of its receptor in the developing Central Nervous System (CNS) of rat. To further explore the role of T-alpha1 and verify its presence in cells of rat CNS, we carried out an immunohistochemical study using a polyclonal antibody against T-alpha1. T-alpha1 immunoreactivity was found mainly in neurons of the hippocampus and spinal cord and in several small cells, resembling glial cells, of specific regions of the brain. Moreover, to study whether cerebral cells were receptive to T-alpha1, we injected iodinated T-alpha1 (125I-T-alpha1) i.c.v.. 125I-T-alpha1 labelled neurons were observed in the hypothalamus and septal nuclei. Our results indicate that specific neuronal populations in the rat CNS are able to express and respond to T-alpha1.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurobiology, CNR, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Turrini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aloe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry; D007106:Immune Sera; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000737:chemistry; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000737:chemistry; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000737:chemistry; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000737:chemistry; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000737:chemistry*; D000077596:Thymalfasin; D013947:Thymosin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology / Q000493:pharmacokinetics
chemical_list: D007106:Immune Sera; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D013947:Thymosin; D000077596:Thymalfasin