Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1996-11-1
pubmed:abstractText
The cellular abundance of neuronal nitric oxide synthase and somatostatin messenger RNAs was compared in the caudate nucleus, putamen and sensorimotor cortex of Huntington's disease and control cases. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA was significantly decreased in the caudate nucleus and putamen, but not in the sensorimotor cortex in Huntington's disease; the decrease in neuronal nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA became more pronounced with the severity of the disease. Somatostatin gene expression was significantly decreased in the dorsal putamen in Huntington's disease, but was essentially unchanged in all other regions examined. The density of neurons expressing detectable levels of neuronal nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA was reduced in the striata of Huntington's disease cases with advanced pathology; the density of neurons expressing detectable levels of somatostatin messenger RNA was similar in control and Huntington's disease cases. Neuropeptide Y-, somatostatin- and NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons were consistently present throughout the striatum across all the grades of the disease. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase and NADPH-diaphorase activity (a histochemical marker for nitric oxide synthase-containing neurons) co-localize with somatostatin and neuropeptide Y in interneurons in the human striatum and cerebral cortex. Although the neurodegeneration associated with Huntington's disease is most evident in the striatum (particularly the dorsal regions), neuronal nitric oxide synthase/neuropeptide Y/somatostatin interneurons are relatively spared. Nitric oxide released by neuronal nitric oxide synthase-containing neurons may mediate glutamate-induced excitotoxic cell death, a mechanism proposed to be instrumental in causing the neurodegeneration seen in Huntington's disease. The results described here suggest that although the population of interneurons containing somatostatin, neuropeptide Y and neuronal nitric oxide synthase do survive in the striatum in Huntington's disease they are damaged during the course of the disease. The results also show that the reduction in neuronal nitric oxide synthase and somatostatin messenger RNAs is most pronounced in the more severely affected dorsal regions of the striatum. Furthermore, the loss of neuronal nitric oxide messenger RNA becomes more pronounced with the severity of the disease; thus implying a down-regulation in neuronal nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA synthesis, and potentially neuronal nitric oxide synthase protein levels, in Huntington's disease.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0306-4522
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
72
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1037-47
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Aged, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Aged, 80 and over, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Antibody Specificity, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Biological Markers, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Cell Count, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Cell Death, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Female, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Gene Expression, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Histocytochemistry, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Huntington Disease, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Immunohistochemistry, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-In Situ Hybridization, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Male, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Middle Aged, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Motor Cortex, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-NADPH Dehydrogenase, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Neostriatum, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Neurons, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Neuropeptide Y, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Nitric Oxide Synthase, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-RNA, Messenger, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Somatosensory Cortex, pubmed-meshheading:8735228-Somatostatin
pubmed:year
1996
pubmed:articleTitle
Decreased neuronal nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA and somatostatin messenger RNA in the striatum of Huntington's disease.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Neurobiology, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, U.K.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't