title: TRAIL-related death receptors in normal, Lurcher and weaver mutant mouse brain.
abstract: In this study, we searched for murine analogues of the four death-receptor types (TRAIL-R1 to R4), targeted by the tumour necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL), which were recently identified in the human brain. The expression of TRAIL-receptors in the normal murine brain was investigated using antibodies directed against different epitopes of the human TRAIL-receptors. Mouse mutants, in particular weaver and Lurcher with their well defined spatio-temporal patterns of neurodegeneration in the cerebellum, the inferior olive and the substantia nigra, were used as a model for investigating a potential contribution of TRAIL-receptors to the genetically determined cell death observed in these mutants. Although all antibodies used, recognized the respective human antigens, only the murine analogue of the human TRAIL-R2 epitope was also identified in the mouse brain. Antisera against human TRAIL-R1, TRAIL-R3 and TRAIL-R4 failed to reveal any other murine TRAIL-receptor analogue. In normal mice, TRAIL-R2 is not universally expressed throughout the brain but rather restricted to specific neuronal populations predominantly consisting of large neurons. In weaver, the spatial patterns and relative densities of TRAIL-R2 labelling were virtually identical to those seen in wild-types during the period of cell death in the cerebellum and the substantia nigra. In Lurcher, TRAIL-R2 expression in cerebellar granule cells and inferior olivary neurons was identical to that in wildtypes but significantly reduced in Purkinje cells undergoing degeneration. Thus, although TRAIL-R2 is found to be expressed in various cell types of the murine brain, cell death in weaver and Lurcher mutants is apparently not accompanied by an upregulation of TRAIL-receptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Arnimallee 22, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. baeurle@zedat.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bäurle
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frischmuth
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kranda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D019169:Jurkat Cells; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D053220:Receptors, TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D053221:TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D053220:Receptors, TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D053221:TNF-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand; C505639:TNFRSF10B protein, human; C505653:TNFSF10 protein, human; C505640:Tnfrsf10b protein, mouse; C505654:Tnfsf10 protein, mouse; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha