title: The astrocyte marker Aldh1L1 does not reliably label enteric glial cells.
abstract: Enteric glial cells are increasingly acknowledged as important partners of enteric neurons in the control of gastrointestinal function. They share morphological features and expression of antigenic markers with astrocytes of the central nervous system. Recently, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member L1 (Aldh1L1) has been proposed as a novel and specific marker for astrocytes. Taking the known similarities between astrocytes and enteric glia into account, we sought to investigate whether enteric glial cells also express Aldh1L1. To this end, we performed immunostaining on preparations of myenteric plexus obtained from adult Aldh1L1-eGFP bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic mice and found that the Aldh1L1 promoter is indeed active in enteric glia, albeit mainly in cells residing outside the myenteric ganglia. Apart from enteric glia, we also observed eGFP expression in interstitial cells of Cajal. Furthermore, myenteric ganglia of the large intestine contained eGFP positive neurons. Taken together, our data indicate that Aldh1L1 is not a suitable marker for enteric glial cells.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Enteric NeuroScience (LENS), Translational Research Center for GastroIntestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Werend
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Boesmans
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Enteric NeuroScience (LENS), Translational Research Center for GastroIntestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Laboratório de Neurofarmacologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natália Pessoa
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Enteric NeuroScience (LENS), Translational Research Center for GastroIntestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Laboratório de Neurofarmacologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Helton José
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: The Laboratory of Glia Biology, Department of Human Genetics, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; VIB Center for the Biology of Disease, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Enteric NeuroScience (LENS), Translational Research Center for GastroIntestinal Disorders (TARGID), Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: pieter.vandenberghe@med.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vanden Berghe
mesh_terms: D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; D000071396:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D017615:Enteric Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000201:enzymology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D000080924:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 Family; C578830:ALDH1B1 protein, mouse; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; D000071396:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Mitochondrial
keywords: Aldh1L1; Astrocyte; Enteric glial cell; Enteric nervous system; Enteric neuron