title: A globin in the nucleus!
abstract: Cytoglobin and neuroglobin are recently discovered members of the globin family. In situ hybridization localized neuroglobin mainly in brain and retina, while cytoglobin was expressed ubiquitously in all analyzed tissues. In the present study, polyclonal antibodies were raised against both proteins and the distribution of them was studied by immunocytochemistry at tissue and subcellular level. Cytoglobin immunoreactivity was uniformly distributed and found in all tissues studied. At the subcellular level, cytoglobin immunoreactivity was exclusively detected in the cell nucleus. In contrast, neuroglobin immunoreactivity was detected in specific brain regions with varying intensities and in the islet of Langerhans in the pancreas. The immunoreactivity was restricted to the cytoplasm of neurons and endocrine beta cells. The nuclear localization of cytoglobin opens new perspectives for possible function(s) of globin-folded proteins as transcriptional regulators.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Geuens
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brouns
authors.forename: Daisy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Flamez
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dewilde
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Timmermans
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry*; D000078842:Cytoglobin; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005914:Globins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D051379:Mice; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D000078787:Neuroglobin; D009474:Neurons / Q000737:chemistry; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C000627267:Cygb protein, mouse; D000078842:Cytoglobin; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D000078787:Neuroglobin; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D005914:Globins