title: Expression of the Rai (Shc C) adaptor protein in the human enteric nervous system.
abstract: The adaptor protein Rai (ShcC/N-Shc) is almost exclusively present in the nervous system, although little is documented about its expression in the gut and the enteric nervous system (ENS). As Rai is a physiological substrate of Ret, an important factor for the development of ENS, we have evaluated the expression of Rai in the ENS in various segments of the human gastrointestinal tract. The expression of Rai was assessed by immunohistochemistry in disease-free human gut samples (oesophagus, stomach, small bowel and colon) obtained from subjects undergoing surgical procedures. Rai was not expressed in the epithelia or lymphoid tissue, whereas a moderate level of expression was observed in the endothelial cells of blood vessels and on the outer membrane of smooth muscle cells in both the muscularis mucosae and the muscularis propria. In the ENS, strong positivity was observed only in enteric glial cells, overlapping with GFAP and S100. In conclusion, Rai is expressed in the human gut, especially in the enteric glial cells. We conclude that Rai may provide an additional marker for this cell type.
authors.affiliation: II Department of Pathology, Spedali Civili and University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Villanacci
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bassotti
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ortensi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fisogni
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cathomas
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Maurer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galletti
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Salerni
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pelicci
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D017615:Enteric Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism*; D000939:Epitopes; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000378:metabolism; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009154:Mutation / Q000502:physiology; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D055765:Shc Signaling Adaptor Proteins; D000071427:Src Homology 2 Domain-Containing, Transforming Protein 3; D014015:Tissue Banks
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D000939:Epitopes; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D009479:Neuropeptides; D009418:S100 Proteins; C122029:SHC3 protein, human; D055765:Shc Signaling Adaptor Proteins; D000071427:Src Homology 2 Domain-Containing, Transforming Protein 3