Reduced hippocampal MT2 melatonin receptor expression in Alzheimer's disease

Egemen Savaskan, Mohammed A. Ayoub, Rivka Ravid, Debora Angeloni, Franco Fraschini, Fides Meier, Anne Eckert, Franz Müller-Spahn, Ralf Jockers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

200 Scopus citations

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to identify the distribution of the second melatonin receptor (MT2) in the human hippocampus of elderly controls and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. This is the first report of immunohistochemical MT2 localization in the human hippocampus both in control and AD cases. The specificity of the MT2 antibody was ascertained by fluorescence microscopy using the anti-MT2 antibody in HEK 293 cells expressing recombinant MT2, in immunoblot experiments on membranes from MT2 expressing cells, and, finally, by immunoprecipitation experiments of the native MT2. MT2 immunoreactivity was studied in the hippocampus of 16 elderly control and 16 AD cases. In controls, MT2 was localized in pyramidal neurons of the hippocampal subfields CA1-4 and in some granular neurons of the stratum granulosum. The overall intensity of the MT2 staining was distinctly decreased in AD cases. The results indicate that MT2 may be involved in mediating the effects of melatonin in the human hippocampus, and this mechanism may be heavily impaired in AD.

Original languageBritish English
Pages (from-to)10-16
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Pineal Research
Volume38
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2005

Keywords

  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Hippocampus
  • Melatonin receptor
  • MT

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