title: Distribution of podoplanin-expressing cells in the mouse nervous systems.
abstract: Podoplanin is a mucin-type glycoprotein which was first identified in podocytes. Recently, podoplanin has been successively reported as a marker for brain and peripheral nerve tumors, however, the distribution of podoplanin-expressing cells in normal nerves has not been fully investigated. This study aims to examine the podoplanin-expressing cell distribution in the mouse head and nervous systems. An immunohistochemical study showed that the podoplanin-positive areas in the mouse peripheral nerve and spinal cord are perineurial fibroblasts, satellite cells in the dorsal root ganglion, glia cells in the ventral and dorsal horns, and schwann cells in the ventral and dorsal roots; in the cranial meninges the dura mater, arachnoid, and pia mater; in the eye the optic nerve, retinal pigment epithelium, chorioidea, sclera, iris, lens epithelium, corneal epithelium, and conjunctival epithelium. In the mouse brain choroid plexus and ependyma were podoplanin-positive, and there were podoplanin-expressing brain parenchymal cells in the nuclei and cortex. The podoplanin-expressing cells were astrocyte marker GFAP-positive and there were no differences in the double positive cell distribution of several portions in the brain parenchyma except for the fornix. The results suggest that podoplanin may play a common role in nervous system support cells and eye constituents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Growth & Development, Fukuoka Dental College.
authors.forename: Miwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomooka
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Growth & Development, Fukuoka Dental College.
authors.forename: Chiaki
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kaji
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Growth & Development, Fukuoka Dental College.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.affiliation: Department of Morphological Biology, Fukuoka Dental College.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sawa
keywords: astrocyte; glia cell; nervous system; podoplanin