Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and The Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
Neurosci Lett. 2011 May 9;495(1):26-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2011.03.028. Epub 2011 Mar 22.
Deimination is a post-translational modification of proteins in which selected arginine amino acids are enzymatically converted to citrullines. Using dual-color immunofluorescence and an established monoclonal antibody (F95) against peptidyl-citrulline moieties, the present study is the first to compare immunohistochemical staining patterns for deiminated proteins in human substantia nigra (SN) from patients with Parkinson disease (PD) versus similar control specimens supplied by the Harvard Brain Bank. In control SN sections, many tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive dopamine neurons were seen surrounded either by small fibers immunoreactive for deiminated proteins, or large reactive astrocytes, co-localized with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). However, in SN specimens from PD patients, immunoreactivity for deiminated proteins was also demonstrated within the cytoplasm of many surviving dopamine neurons that were also immunoreactive for TH, but this staining was not specifically restricted to Lewy bodies. Although the identity of neuronal deiminated proteins in these SN dopamine neurons is unknown, the present study provides evidence that the anatomical expression of these proteins in PD is altered and thus suggests that deimination may be involved in the pathophysiology of this disease.
脱氨作用是蛋白质的一种翻译后修饰,在这种修饰中,选定的精氨酸氨基酸被酶转化为瓜氨酸。本研究使用双色免疫荧光和针对肽基瓜氨酸部分的已建立的单克隆抗体(F95),首次比较了帕金森病(PD)患者的人黑质(SN)中脱氨蛋白的免疫组织化学染色模式与哈佛脑库提供的类似对照标本。在对照 SN 切片中,许多酪氨酸羟化酶(TH)免疫反应性多巴胺神经元被小纤维免疫反应性脱氨蛋白或大反应性星形胶质细胞包围,与神经胶质纤维酸性蛋白(GFAP)共定位。然而,在 PD 患者的 SN 标本中,也在 TH 免疫反应性的许多存活的多巴胺神经元的细胞质中显示出脱氨蛋白的免疫反应性,但这种染色不仅限于路易体。尽管这些 SN 多巴胺神经元中神经元脱氨蛋白的身份未知,但本研究提供了证据表明这些蛋白质在 PD 中的解剖表达发生了改变,因此表明脱氨作用可能参与了这种疾病的病理生理学。