title: Mortalin is Expressed by Astrocytes and Decreased in the Midbrain of Parkinson's Disease Patients.
abstract: Mortalin, an essential mitochondrial chaperone protein, has previously been implicated in the pathogenesis of a wide array of diseases, including neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease. Previous reports have consistently described mortalin protein levels to be lower in the brain tissue of patients with neurodegenerative disease, with expression demonstrated to be lower in neurons of post-mortem PD brain specimens. However, to date, mortalin expression has not yet been evaluated in astrocytes of post-mortem brain tissue from either normal or PD subjects. Mortalin expression was demonstrated in mouse primary astrocyte cultures by Western blot and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Furthermore, confocal microscopy studies in human post-mortem tissue indicated co-localization of mortalin within astrocytes. Utilizing a quantitative immunofluorescence staining approach, the protein was found to be moderately reduced (∼35%) in this cell type in the substantia nigra pars compacta, but not structures of the corpus striatum, in PD subjects as compared to age-/gender-matched controls. These findings highlight the potential contribution of disrupted astroglial function in the pathogenesis of PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Travis J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Jake G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Hoekstra
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C080352:mortalin
keywords: Parkinson's disease; astrocytes; fluorescence microscopy; human brain tissue; mortalin