Increased expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor in the frontal cortex of patients with intractable frontal lobe epilepsy.
Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol-anchored protein involved in cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation, migration, invasion, and tissue repair and remodeling. Our aim was to investigate uPAR expression in the frontal cortex of patients with intractable frontal lobe epilepsy and to explore the possible role of uPAR in intractable epilepsy. Tissue samples were obtained from the frontal cortex of 25 patients who had undergone surgery for intractable epilepsy and 15 histologically normal frontal cortex tissues from patients with orbital frontal lobe severe contusion (the control group). The frontal cortex expression of uPAR was studied by Western blot and immnohistochemistry. Double immunofluorescence was used to determine the expression of uPAR in astrocytes, microglia, and neurons. The normal frontal cortex uPAR protein level was shown to be low. In the brain tissue of patients with intractable epilepsy, the expression of uPAR protein increased dramatically. Based on the results of double immunofluorescence, many uPAR-positive cells are colocalized with the cell soma of NeuN-positive neurons, whereas only a few GFAP- and CD11b-positive cells colocalized with uPAR staining. These findings provide new information pertaining to the epileptogenesis of intractable epilepsy and suggest that increased expression of uPAR in human brain may be associated with human intractable epilepsy.
Liu
Bei
B
Department of Neurosurgery and Institute for Functional Brain Disorders, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710038, People's Republic of China.
Zhang
Bin
B
Wang
Tao
T
Liang
Qin-Chuan
QC
Jing
Xiao-Rong
XR
Zheng
Jun
J
Wang
Chao
C
Meng
Qiang
Q
Wang
Liang
L
Wang
Wei
W
Guo
Heng
H
You
Yu
Y
Zhang
Hua
H
Gao
Guo-Dong
GD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D055815:Young Adult
D015415:Biomarkers; D055293:Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator