title: New insights into c-Ret signalling pathway in the enteric nervous system and its relationship with ALS.
abstract: The receptor tyrosine kinase Ret (c-Ret) transduces the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) signal, one of the neurotrophic factors related to the degeneration process or the regeneration activity of motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The phosphorylation of several tyrosine residues of c-Ret seems to be altered in ALS. c-Ret is expressed in motor neurons and in the enteric nervous system (ENS) during the embryonic period. The characteristics of the ENS allow using it as model for central nervous system (CNS) study and being potentially useful for the research of human neurological diseases such as ALS. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cellular localization and quantitative evaluation of marker c-Ret in the adult human gut. To assess the nature of c-Ret positive cells, we performed colocalization with specific markers of cells that typically are located in the enteric ganglia. The colocalization of PGP9.5 and c-Ret was preferentially intense in enteric neurons with oval morphology and mostly peripherally localized in the ganglion, so we concluded that the c-Ret receptor is expressed by a specific subtype of enteric neurons in the mature human ENS of the gut. The functional significance of these c-Ret positive neurons is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Domingo Miral, s/n, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain ; Aragon Health Sciences Institute (I+CS), Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Luesma
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Córdoba, Spain ; Maimonides Institute for Biomedical Research of Cordoba (IMIBIC), Spain.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cantarero
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Surgery, University of Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Dotu
authors.affiliation: Department Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santander
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Domingo Miral, s/n, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain ; Aragon Health Sciences Institute (I+CS), Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Junquera
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D017615:Enteric Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D005724:Ganglia / Q000378:metabolism; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000378:metabolism; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; C482860:UCHL1 protein, human; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D043222:Ubiquitin Thiolesterase