title: Differential expression of interferon-gamma receptor on human glial cells in vivo and in vitro.
abstract: Although significant effects of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on glial cells are well documented, information on the expression level and localization of glial IFN-gamma receptors (IFN-gamma-R) in the human central nervous system (CNS) is sparse. To examine the glial expression of IFN-gamma-R in the human CNS, immunohistochemistry and quantitative analyses were performed on Alzheimer disease hippocampus, Parkinson disease substantia nigra, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis spinal cord and corresponding areas from non-neurological cases. Almost all IFN-gamma-R-positive (IFN-gamma-R(+)) cells corresponded to GFAP-positive (GFAP(+)) astrocytes, while none of IFN-gamma-R(+) cells corresponded to IBA1-positive (IBA1(+)) microglia or MBP-positive (MBP(+)) oligodendrocytes in these neurological cases. We observed a similar pattern of glial IFN-gamma-R expression in non-neurological cases. Also, we quantitatively analyzed the IFN-gamma-R expression by cultured human glial cells using immunocytochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In contrast to in vivo results, almost all IFN-gamma-R(+) cells were IBA1(+) in microglial cultures, GFAP(+) in astrocytic cultures and MBP(+) in oligodendrocytic cultures. Moreover, no significant difference in IFN-gamma-R mRNA expression was found for these glial cell types by RT-PCR. These results suggest that the microglial and oligodendrocytic expression levels of IFN-gamma-R are much lower than the astrocytic expression levels in the human CNS in vivo, whereas all three types of glial cells constitutively express IFN-gamma-R when cultured in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Sadayuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hashioka
authors.forename: Andis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klegeris
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Patrick L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: McGeer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D008875:Middle Aged; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology; D017471:Receptors, Interferon / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D000096743:Interferon gamma Receptor
chemical_list: D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein; D017471:Receptors, Interferon; D000096743:Interferon gamma Receptor; C112986:AIF1 protein, human