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Acta Physiologica 2009; Volume 197, Supplement 672
The 60th National Congress of the Italian Physiological Society
9/23/2009-9/25/2009
Siena, Italy

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AN OLD PROTEIN IN UNEXPECTED PLACES: ALPHA- AND BETA- GLOBIN EXPRESSION IN MESENCEPHALIC DOPAMINERGIC NEURONS AND GLIAL CELLS
Abstract number: OC-01

BIAGIOLI^1,2 M, PINTO¹ M, CESSELLI³ D, ZANINELLO¹ M, LAZAREVIC^1,2,4 D, RONCAGLIA¹ P, SIMONE^1,2 R, VLACHOULI¹ C, PLESSY⁵ C, BERTIN⁵ N, BELTRAMI³ A, KOBAYASHI⁶ K, GALLO⁷ V, SANTORO⁸ C, FERRER⁹ I, RIVELLA¹⁰ S, BELTRAMI³ CA, CARNINCI⁵ P, RAVIOLA¹¹ E, GUSTINCICH^1,2 S

¹Sector of Neurobiology, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), AREA Science Park, Basovizza, Trieste
²The Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation Laboratory, Basovizza, Trieste
³Centro Interdipartimentale Medicina Rigenerativa (CIME), University of Udine
⁴CBM Scrl - Consorzio per il Centro di Biomedicina Molecolare, AREA Science Park, Basovizza, Trieste; (Italy)
⁵Genome Science Laboratory, RIKEN, Wako main Campus, Hirosawa 2-1 Wako, Japan
⁶Department of Molecular Genetics, Institute of Biochemical Sciences, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
⁷Center for Neuroscience Research, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, USA
⁸Department of Medical Sciences, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara (Italy)
⁹Institute of Neuropathology, IDIBELL-University Hospital Bellvitge, University of Barcelona, Llobregat, Spain
¹⁰0Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, USA
¹¹1Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, [email protected]

Aim: 

The mesencephalic dopaminergic (mDA) cell system is composed by two major groups of projecting cells in the Substantia Nigra (A9 neurons) and the Ventral Tegmental Area (A10 cells). A9 neurons form the nigrostriatal pathway and are involved in regulating voluntary movements and postural reflexes. Their selective degeneration leads to Parkinson's disease (PD).

Here we report that gene expression analysis of A9 DA neurons identifies transcripts for alpha and beta- chains of haemoglobin.

Methods: 

Globin-immunoreactivity decorates the majority of A9 DA neurons, a subpopulation of cortical and hippocampal astrocytes as well as mature oligodendrocytes. This pattern of expression was confirmed in different mouse strains, in rat and human.

Results: 

This is the first report showing that haemoglobin is expressed in the Substantia Nigra of human post mortem brain. By microarray analysis of dopaminergic cell lines over-expressing alpha- and beta-globin chains, changes in genes involved in O2 homeostasis and oxidative phopshorylation were observed, linking haemoglobin expression to mitochondrial function.

Conclusion: 

Our data suggest that the most famed oxygen-carrying globin is not exclusively restricted to the blood, but it may play a role in the normal physiology of the brain as well as in neurodegenerative diseases.

To cite this abstract, please use the following information:
Acta Physiologica 2009; Volume 197, Supplement 672 :OC-01