Two distinct population of vesicles can be identified in PC12 cells by subcellular fractionation and immunofluorescence. Density gradient separation reveals one population of dense vesicles that contains the transgenic regulated secretory protein hGH (human growth hormone) along with the endogenous neurotransmitter norepinephrine. Some of the neuronal vesicle marker synaptophysin (P38) is also ...

Background and Objective: Evaluation of degenerative changes of motoneurons and their related synapses can be useful in understanding the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and their potential treatment. The present electron microscopic and immunohistochemical study investigates the axotomy-induced changes of adult spinal motoneurons up to 3 months following sciatic nerve transection. Mat...

In adipocytes and muscle cells, the GLUT4 glucose transporter isoform is present in intracellular vesicles which continuously recycle between an intracytoplasmic location and the plasma membrane. It is not clear whether the GLUT4-vesicles represent a specific kind of vesicle or resemble typical secretory granules or synaptic-like microvesicles. To approach this question, we expressed GLUT4 in t...

Adrenocortical carcinoma is an uncommon and aggressivemalignancy. Despite a high frequency of metastasis, cutaneousmetastasis of adrenocortical carcinoma is rare with only isolatedcase reports. Its diagnosis can be challenging based solely onhistopathological findings. Yet, the clinical history in combinationwith an immunohistochemical panel consisting of inhibin,vimentin, chromogranin, synapto...

Parallel studies have demonstrated that enkephalin release from nerve terminals in the pallidum (globus pallidus and ventral pallidum) can be modulated by locally applied opioid drugs. To investigate further the mechanisms underlying these opioid effects, the present study examined the presynaptic and postsynaptic localization of delta (DOR1) and mu (MOR1) opioid receptors in the dorsal and ven...

Stable tubule-only polypeptide (STOP) proteins are a family of microtubule associated proteins (MAPs) important in microtubule stabilization. Data indicating a role for microtubules in synaptic function has come from studies of the STOP null mouse, which exhibits synaptic deficits, in association with behavioural changes that are alleviated by antipsychotic treatment. These findings suggested t...

BACKGROUND Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) transformation during epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) treatment in lung cancer has been suggested as one of possible resistance mechanisms. METHODS We evaluated whether SCLC transformation or neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation can be found in the cell line model. In addition, we also investigated its effect on res...

Valproic Acid (VPA) is a histone deacetylase inhibitor that holds promise for cancer therapy. Here, we investigate whether VPA treatment induces neuroendocrine differentiation of Prostate Cancer (PCa). A tissue microarray of VPA-treated and untreated tumor xenografts and cell lines of human PCa (LNCaP, C4-2, DU145, and PC-3) were generated and were analyzed by immunohistochemical analysis (IHC)...

Physiological roles of the members of the synaptophysin family, carrying four transmembrane segments and being basically distributed on intracellular membranes including synaptic vesicles, have not been established yet. Recently, mitsugumin29 (MG29) was identified as a novel member of the synaptophysin family from skeletal muscle. MG29 is expressed in the junctional membrane complex between the...

BACKGROUND Synapse loss has been found to be the major correlate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease (AD), and prefrontal synapse loss has been found in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). OBJECTIVE To see if our hypothesis that within each FTD case, regional synapse loss would correlate with lateralizing neuropsychologic and neurobehavioral deficits would be correct. DESIGN ...