We demonstrate the significance of peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) imaging in living mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) as biomarkers and functional signatures of glial activation. By radiochemically and immunohistochemically analyzing murine models of the two pathological hallmarks of AD, we found that AD-like Abeta deposition is concurrent with astrocyte-dominant PBR expression...

The peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) is overexpressed in a variety of cancers. In Unio Internationale Contra Cancrum (UICC) III colorectal cancers, a high level of PBR overexpression correlates with poor prognosis. However, little is known about the role of PBR in the development and progression of colorectal cancer. This study addresses the up-regulation of PBR during colorectal carcin...

Two main types of benzodiazepine receptors have been identified: central type, which is found in the brain mainly in the cortex, limbic areas and cerebellum, and peripheral type, which is found in the kidneys, lungs, ovaries, testes, adrenal glands and blood cells, but is also present in the CNS, in particular in glial cells. Peripheral benzodiazepine receptors (PBR) are detected in most of the...

To search for a possible role for peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptors (PBR) during erythroid differentiation, we cloned the PBR isoquinoline carboxamide-binding protein (PBR/IBP), an 18-kDa protein on PBR, from a mouse erythroleukemia (MEL) cell cDNA library. Sequence analysis revealed that PBR/IBP comprises 169 amino acid residues (M(r) 18,828), and has a high homology with PBR/IBP from o...

The expression of peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) and diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) were studied in human astrocytic tu mors using immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization. Both PBR and DBI were prominently expressed in neoplastic cells, whereas in nor mal brain their amount was low or undetectable. Immunocytochemical double staining demonstrated that PBR and DBI were pres...

Aberrant cell proliferation and increased invasive and metastatic behavior are hallmarks of the advancement of breast cancer. Numerous studies implicate a role for cholesterol in the mechanisms underlying cell proliferation and cancer progression. The peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) is an Mr 18,000 protein primarily localized to the mitochondria. PBR mediates cholesterol transport...

The expression of peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) and diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) were studied in human astrocytic tumors using immunocytochemistry and in situ hybridization. Both PBR and DBI were prominently expressed in neoplastic cells, whereas in normal brain their amount was low or undetectable. Immunocytochemical double staining demonstrated that PBR and DBI were presen...

PURPOSE The peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) has been implicated in the growth control of colorectal cancer, where PBR-specific ligand-binding is increased 3-4-fold. However, the prognostic relevance of PBR (over) expression has not yet been evaluated in colorectal cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN A 5-year follow-up was performed in 116 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for colorecta...

To evaluate the role of the mitochondrial peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) in steroidogenesis, we developed a molecular approach based on the disruption of the PBR gene, by homologous recombination, in the constitutive steroid producing R2C rat Leydig tumor cell line. Inactivation of one allele of the PBR gene resulted in the suppression of PBR mRNA and ligand binding expression. I...