title: RCAN1-1L is overexpressed in neurons of Alzheimer's disease patients.
abstract: At least two different isoforms of RCAN1 mRNA are expressed in neuronal cells in normal human brain. Although RCAN1 mRNA is elevated in brain regions affected by Alzheimer's disease, it is not known whether the disease affects neuronal RCAN1, or if other cell types (e.g. astrocytes or microglia) are affected. It is also unknown how many protein isoforms are expressed in human brain and whether RCAN1 protein is overexpressed in Alzheimer's disease. We explored the expression of both RCAN1-1 and RCAN1-4 mRNA isoforms in various cell types in normal and Alzheimer's disease postmortem samples, using the combined technique of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. We found that both exon 1 and exon 4 are predominantly expressed in neuronal cells, and no significant expression of either of the exons was observed in astocytes or microglial cells. This was true in both normal and Alzheimer's disease brain sections. We also demonstrate that RCAN1-1 mRNA levels are approximately two-fold higher in neurons from Alzheimer's disease patients versus non-Alzheimer's disease controls. Using western blotting, we now show that there are three RCAN1 protein isoforms expressed in human brain: RCAN1-1L, RCAN1-1S, and RCAN1-4. We have determined that RCAN1-1L is expressed at twice the level of RCAN1-4, and that there is very minor expression of RCAN1-1S. We also found that the RCAN1-1L protein is overexpressed in Alzheimer's disease patients, whereas RCAN1-4 is not. From these results, we conclude that RCAN1-1 may play a role in Alzheimer's disease, whereas RCAN1-4 may serve another purpose.
authors.affiliation: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center, and Division of Molecular & Computational Biology, The University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0191, USA.
authors.forename: Cathryn D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Gennady
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ermak
authors.forename: Kelvin J A
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Davies
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015870:Gene Expression; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; C108612:RCAN1 protein, human