Alterations in trk A, trk B and trk C receptor immunoreactivities in parietal cortex and cerebellum in Alzheimer's disease.
The neurotrophins nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 bind to the tyrosine kinase (trk) receptors trk A, trk B and trk C, respectively, with high affinity. We investigated the expression of the trk receptors in the parietal cortex (PC) and cerebellum of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and age-matched controls. Cortical layers II-VI displayed a distinct cellular immunoreactivity for trk A and C with an emphasis in the pyramidal neurons of layers III and V. Trk B immunoreactivity was primarily located in the deeper cortical layers with a predominance in layer V. There was a decrease in trk A and C immunoreactivity in the PC of AD cases, while trk B density appeared to be unchanged. In addition, cerebellar Purkinje cells revealed a distinct immunoreactivity for trk C both in control and AD cases, suggesting trk C may be important in the maintenance of these cells in the aged brain.
Savaskan
E
E
Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel, Switzerland. esavaskan@datacomm.ch
Müller-Spahn
F
F
Olivieri
G
G
Bruttel
S
S
Otten
U
U
Rosenberg
C
C
Hulette
C
C
Hock
C
C
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000473:pathology; D020917:Receptor, trkA / Q000032:analysis*; D020813:Receptor, trkB / Q000032:analysis*; D020812:Receptor, trkC / Q000032:analysis*
D020917:Receptor, trkA; D020813:Receptor, trkB; D020812:Receptor, trkC