Expression of the kallikrein gene family in normal and Alzheimer's disease brain.
The human kallikrein gene family consists of 15 serine proteases. We examined the expression of the kallikrein genes in human cerebral cortex and hippocampus by RT-PCR and compared their expression between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and control tissue. KLK1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 14 are expressed in both cerebral cortex and hippocampus. KLK9 is expressed in cortex but not hippocampus, whereas KLK2, 3, 12 and 15 are not expressed in either tissue. We demonstrate an 11.5-fold increase in KLK8 mRNA levels in AD hippocampus compared to controls. The KLK8 gene product, neuropsin, processes extracellular matrix and is important for neuronal plasticity. Therefore, the increase in KLK8 could have detrimental effects on hippocampal function in AD.
Shimizu-Okabe
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Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3Z5, Canada.
Yousef
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Diamandis
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EP
Yoshida
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Shiosaka
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Fahnestock
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D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005810:Multigene Family; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D007610:Kallikreins