title: Unexpected expression of alpha- and beta-globin in mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons and glial cells.
abstract: The mesencephalic dopaminergic (mDA) cell system is composed of two major groups of projecting cells in the substantia nigra (SN) (A9 neurons) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) (A10 cells). A9 neurons form the nigrostriatal pathway and are involved in regulating voluntary movements and postural reflexes. Their selective degeneration leads to Parkinson's disease. Here, we report that gene expression analysis of A9 dopaminergic neurons (DA) identifies transcripts for alpha- and beta-chains of hemoglobin (Hb). Globin immunoreactivity decorates the majority of A9 DA, a subpopulation of cortical and hippocampal astrocytes and mature oligodendrocytes. This pattern of expression was confirmed in different mouse strains and in rat and human. We show that Hb is expressed in the SN of human postmortem brain. By microarray analysis of dopaminergic cell lines overexpressing alpha- and beta-globin chains, changes in genes involved in O(2) homeostasis and oxidative phopshorylation were observed, linking Hb expression to mitochondrial function. Our data suggest that the most famed oxygen-carrying globin is not exclusively restricted to the blood, but it may play a role in the normal physiology of the brain and neurodegenerative diseases.
authors.affiliation: Sector of Neurobiology, International School for Advanced Studies, The Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation Laboratory, and Consorzio per il Centro di Biomedicina Molecolare, AREA Science Park, Basovizza, 34012 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biagioli
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cesselli
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zaninello
authors.forename: Dejan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lazarevic
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roncaglia
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simone
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vlachouli
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Plessy
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bertin
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beltrami
authors.forename: Kazuto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gallo
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: Isidro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rivella
authors.forename: Carlo Alberto
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Beltrami
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carninci
authors.forename: Elio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Raviola
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gustincich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D051381:Rats; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000166:cytology*; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000166:cytology*; D055542:alpha-Globins / Q000378:metabolism*; D055544:beta-Globins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D055542:alpha-Globins; D055544:beta-Globins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins