Project description:In the gastropod mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis, insulin-like peptides in the central nervous system (CNS) control behavioral changes associated with an associative learning. We examined the responding molecules in the CNS after insulin administration by protein analysis using comparative quantitative mass spectrometry.
Project description:Gliogenesis in the Drosophila CNS occurs during embryogenesis and also during the postembryonic larval stages. Several glial subtypes are generated in the postembryonic CNS through the proliferation of differentiated glial cells. The genes and molecular pathways that regulate glial proliferation in the postembryonic CNS are poorly understood. In this study we aimed to use gene expressing profiling of CNS tissue enriched in glia to identify genes expressed in glial cells in the postembryonic CNS. We used microarrays to compare the gene expression profiles from the larval CNS of animals that had increased numbers of glial cells to identify genes that are expressed in glia. RNA was purified from the late third instar larval CNS from control larvae, or larvae expressing an activated form of the FGF receptor (Hlt[ACT]), or overexpressing the insulin receptor (InR) in glial cells using the glial specific driver repoGal4 to increase the number of glial cells and generate CNS tissue enriched in glia.
Project description:Primary lymphoma of the central nervous system (PCNSL) is a diffuse large B cell lymphoma confined to the CNS. In order to elucidate its peculiar organ tropism, we generated recombinant antibodies (recAb) identical with the BCR of a series of 23 PCNSL from immunocompetent patients. While none of the recAb showed self-reactivity upon testing with common autoantigens, they recognized 1547 proteins present on a large-scale protein microarray. Interestingly, proteins recognized by the recAb are physiologically expressed by CNS neurons (GRINL1A, centaurin-α, BAIAP2). Furthermore, 87% (20/23) of the recAb including all antibodies derived from IGHV4 34 using PCNSL recognized galectin-3, which was upregulated on microglia/macrophages, astrocytes, and cerebral endothelial cells upon CNS invasion by PCNSL. Thus, PCNSL Ig may recognize CNS proteins as self-antigens. Their interaction may contribute to BCR signaling with sustained NF-κB activation and, ultimately, may foster tumor cell proliferation and survival. These data may also explain, at least in part, the affinity of the tumor cells of PCNSL to the CNS. Recombinant antibodies (recAb) identical with the BCR of a series of 23 PCNSL from immunocompetent patients.
Project description:Gliogenesis in the Drosophila CNS occurs during embryogenesis and also during the postembryonic larval stages. Several glial subtypes are generated in the postembryonic CNS through the proliferation of differentiated glial cells. The genes and molecular pathways that regulate glial proliferation in the postembryonic CNS are poorly understood. In this study we aimed to use gene expressing profiling of CNS tissue enriched in glia to identify genes expressed in glial cells in the postembryonic CNS. We used microarrays to compare the gene expression profiles from the larval CNS of animals that had increased numbers of glial cells to identify genes that are expressed in glia.