Immunolocalization of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase (cAAT) in axon terminals that form synapses in the rat cerebellar cortex. A study at the electron microscopic level

A gene expression profile of Alzheimer's disease

Postmortem analysis of brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) has led to diverse theories about the causes of the pathology, suggesting that this complex disease involves multiple physiological changes. In an effort to better understand the variety and integration of these changes, we generated a gene expression profile for AD brain. Comparing affected and unaffected brain regions in nine controls and six AD cases, we showed that 118 of the 7050 sequences on a broadly representative cDNA microarray were differentially expressed in the amygdala and cingulate cortex, two regions affected early in the disease. The identity of these genes suggests the most prominent upregulated physiological correlates of pathology involve chronic inflammation, cell adhesion, cell proliferation, and protein synthesis (31 upregulated genes). Conversely, downregulated correlates of pathology involve signal transduction, energy metabolism, stress response, synaptic vesicle synthesis and function, calcium binding, and cytoskeleton (87 downregulated genes). The results support several separate theories of the causes of AD pathology, as well as add to the list of genes associated with AD. In addition, approximately 10 genes of unknown function were found to correlate with the pathology.

Chemical anatomy of excitatory endings in the dorsal cochlear nucleus of the rat: differential synaptic distribution of aspartate aminotransferase, glutamate, and vesicular zinc

In order to identify cytochemical traits relevant to understanding excitatory neurotransmission in brainstem auditory nuclei, we have analyzed in the dorsal cochlear nucleus the synaptic distribution of aspartate aminotransferase, glutamate, and vesicular zinc, three molecules probably involved in different steps of excitatory glutamatergic signaling. High levels of glutamate immunolabeling were found in three classes of synaptic endings in the dorsal cochlear nucleus, as determined by quantitation of immunogold labeling. The first type included auditory nerve endings, the second were granule cell endings in the molecular layer, and the third very large endings, better described as "mossy." This finding points to a neurotransmitter role for glutamate in at least three synaptic populations in the dorsal cochlear nucleus. The same three types of endings enriched in glutamate immunoreactivity also contained histochemically detectable levels of aspartate aminotransferase activity, suggesting that this enzyme may be involved in the synaptic handling of glutamate in excitatory endings in the dorsal cochlear nucleus. There was also extrasynaptic localization of the enzyme. Zinc ions were localized exclusively in granule cell endings, as determined by a Danscher-selenite method, suggesting that this ion is involved in the operation of granule cell synapses in the dorsal cochlear nucleus.

Cerebellar glutamate metabolizing enzymes in spinocerebellar ataxia type I

We measured the levels of three glutamate metabolizing enzymes, namely, glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AAT), and glutamine synthetase (GS) in cerebellar and occipital cortices of nine patients with dominantly-inherited olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA; spinocerebellar ataxia type I). As compared with the controls, mean GDH activities in cerebellar cortex of the OPCA patients were normal whereas levels of AAT (-17%) and the glial enzyme GS (-27%) were significantly reduced. No statistically significant changes were observed in occipital cortex, a morphologically unaffected brain area. We suggest that the decreased GS levels could reflect impaired capacity of astrocytes to metabolize glutamate which might contribute to the degenerative processes in OPCA cerebellum.

Ankyrin immunoreactivity in adult rat cerebellum

An antibody recognizing all ankyrin isoforms was employed to localize ankyrin in the cerebellum by light and electron microscopy. White matter (myelinated fiber tracts) did not contain ankyrin. Granule cell bodies and axons contained ankyrin which extended into the parallel fibers and their synapses. Purkinje cells contained a nearly uniform plasma membrane undercoating of ankyrin in the cell body. However, in both of these cell types ankyrin was not detected in dendrites. Basket and stellate cells did not contain detectable ankyrin. Golgi neuroepithelial cell bodies and processes contained ankyrin while myelin and myelinated axons did not. These results indicate that the membrane skeletal protein ankyrin occurs in some, but not all, neuronal and glial cell types in the cerebellum. For the neurons in which it does occur its distribution is polarized, being limited to cell bodies and axons while not occurring in dendrites.

Histochemistry of glutamate metabolizing enzymes in the rat cerebellar cortex

Applying catalytic enzyme histochemistry, glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and phosphate activated glutaminase (PAG) were demonstrated at the light microscopic level, and aspartate aminotransferase (AAT) was detected at the electron microscopic level. GDH staining appeared preferentially in glial cells (Bergmann glia and astrocytes), whereas AAT was localized only in neuronal structures. Cytoplasmic AAT was demonstrated in the perikarya and terminal plexus of basket cells, in the perikarya of stellate cells, in about 60% of the granule cells, in mossy fiber boutons, in numerous small boutons in the molecular layer, and in the axoplasm of numerous myelinated and unmyelinated fibers. PAG was observed in both neuronal structures (perikarya of granule and Purkinje cells) and in astrocytes and Bergmann glia.