Expression of nestin in Purkinje cells in patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Nestin is one of the intermediate filament proteins and mainly expressed during the development of the central nervous system. We examined the cerebellum of patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), multiple system atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, using anti-human nestin antibodies. The antibodies strongly immunostained the cytoplasm, dendrites and torpedoes of Purkinje cells in CJD. However, Purkinje cells in other neurodegenerative disorders were not nestin-immunoreactive. Nestin immunoreactivities became more marked as the pathological severity in the cerebellum increased. Our findings suggest that nestin is strongly expressed in Purkinje cells in pathologically advanced CJD and show the possibility that Purkinje cells are being reactivated to promote survival.
Mizuno
Yuji
Y
Department of Neurology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan. mizunoy@med.gunma-u.ac.jp
Takeuchi
Toshiyuki
T
Takatama
Masamitsu
M
Okamoto
Koichi
K
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007381:Intermediate Filament Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D064231:Nestin; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*
D007381:Intermediate Filament Proteins; C577484:NES protein, human; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D064231:Nestin