Wolfram (DIDMOAD) syndrome is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder accompanied by insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and progressive optic atrophy. Recent positional cloning led to identification of the WFS1 (Wolfram syndrome 1) gene, a member of a novel gene family of unknown function. In this study, we generated a specific antibody against the C-terminus of the WFS1 protein and investigated its subcellular localization in cultured cells. We also studied its distribution in the rat brain. Biochemical studies indicated the WFS1 protein to be an integral, endoglycosidase H-sensitive membrane glycoprotein that localizes primarily in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Consistent with this, immunofluorescence cell staining of overexpressed WFS1 showed a characteristic reticular pattern over the cytoplasm and overlapped with the ER marker staining. No co-localization of WFS1 with mitochondria argues against an earlier clinical hypothesis that Wolfram syndrome is a mitochondria-mediated disorder. In the rat brain, at both the protein and mRNA level, WFS1 was found to be present predominantly in selected neurons in the hippocampus CA1, amygdaloid areas, olfactory tubercle and superficial layer of the allocortex. These expression sites, i.e. components of the limbic system or structures closely associated with this system, may be involved in the psychiatric, behavioral and emotional abnormalities characteristic of this syndrome. ER localization of WFS1 suggests that this protein plays an as yet undefined role in membrane trafficking, protein processing and/or regulation of ER calcium homeostasis. These studies represent a first step toward the characterization of WFS1 protein, which presumably functions to maintain certain populations of neuronal and endocrine cells.

Ad4BP (or SF-1) has been identified as a transcription factor which regulates all the steroidogenic P450 genes in the peripheral organs, and is encoded by the mammalian homologue of Drosophila FTZ-F1 gene. mRNA coding for Ad4BP was detected in the hypothalamus and pituitary of rats by RT-PCR. Immunohistochemical analyses using an antiserum to Ad4BP in the brain and pituitary revealed that the transcription factor is expressed in nuclei of the dorsomedial part of the ventromedial hypothalamus (dmVMH) and in some subpopulation of the adenohypophysial cells. Double immunostaining of the pituitary for Ad4BP and trophic peptide hormones, FSH, TSH, and ACTH, indicated a restricted localization of Ad4BP to the gonadotroph. Disruption of the mouse Ftz-FI gene was clarified to induce severe defects in the organization of the dmVMH and the function of the pituitary gonadotroph. However, some of the dm VMH neurons and pituitary gonadotrophs persisted, which provided a sharp contrast to complete agenesis of the peripheral steroidogenic tissues (adrenal and gonads) in the mutant mouse. Additional abnormalities were seen in the ventrolateral part of VMH and dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, both of which do not express Ad4BP but have strong reciprocal fiber-connections with the dmVMH. Aromatase P450-containing cells in the medial preoptico-amygdaloid region, which were devoid of Ad4BP, persisted even in the brain of the gene disrupted mice. The present results clearly showed that the hypothalamic and pituitary Ad4BPs are essential to normal development of the functional VMH and gonadotroph through some mechanism distinct from that in the peripheral steroidogenic tissues. 8 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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The plasticity of bone marrow cells (BMCs) remains controversial. The present study found that persistent injury induces efficient trans-differentiation of BMCs into functional hepatocytes. Mice with liver cirrhosis induced by carbon tetrachloride were injected with 1 x 10(5) non-treated green fluorescent protein (GFP)-positive BMCs via the tail vein. In these mice, transplanted GFP-positive BMCs efficiently migrated into the peri-portal area of liver lobules after one day, repopulating 25% of the recipient liver by 4 weeks. In contrast, no GFP-positive BMCs were detected following transplantation into control mice with undamaged livers. BMCs trans-differentiated into functional mature hepatocytes via immature hepatoblasts. Serum albumin levels were significantly elevated to compensate for chronic liver failure in BMC transplantation. These results reveal that recipient conditions and microenvironments represent key factors for successful cell therapy using BMCs.

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Brain aromatase has been considered to be an important clue in elucidating the actions of androgen on brain sexual differentiation. Using highly specific anti-P450arom antiserum, the regional and subcellular distributions were immunohistochemically evaluated in the preoptic, strial, and amygdaloid regions of developing rat brains. Aromatase-immunoreactive (AROM-I) neurons were classified into three groups. The first, in which immunostaining occurs only during certain pre- or neonatal days (E16-P2), included the anterior medial preoptic nucleus, the periventricular preoptic nucleus, neurons associated with the strial part of the preoptic area, and the rostral portion of the medial preoptic nucleus. The second is a striking AROM-I cell group in the "medial preopticoamygdaloid neuronal arc," which extends from the medial preoptic nucleus to the principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the posterodorsal part of the medial amygdaloid nucleus. The AROM-I neurons appeared by E16, reaching a peak in staining intensity between E18 and P2 and diminishing after the perinatal stage. After P14, a third group of AROM-I neurons emerged in the lateral septal nucleus, the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the central amygdaloid nucleus. The second group was thought to be the major aromatization center in developing rat brains, while the center might partly shift to the third group of neurons after the late infantile stage. The distribution and developmental patterns were basically similar in males and females, suggesting that the neonatally prominent aromatase is not induced by male-specific androgen surges occurring around birth. On immunoelectron microscopy, subneuronal aromatase was predominantly localized on the nuclear membrane and endoplasmic reticulum, which appeared to be appropriate for the efficient conversion of androgen into estrogen just prior to binding to the nuclear receptors.

A distinct subset of rat primary olfactory neurons was identified immunohistochemically by means of a polyclonal antibody against human placental antigen X-P2 (hPAX-P2), an incompletely characterized substance found in all estrogen-biosynthetic organs. The subset of olfactory receptor cells was distributed widely over the olfactory epithelium with some degree of concentration on the dorsocaudal walls of nasal subcavities. The subset formed unique "necklace olfactory glomeruli," which were composed of seven to nine solitary glomeruli located in the caudal end of the olfactory bulb. One of them was located in the "modified glomerular complex" reported to be involved in rat suckling behavior. The projectional patterns of the necklace olfactory system, albeit diffuse, indicated some degree of spatial correspondence between zones of olfactory epithelium and specific glomeruli. Axons emanating from neighboring cells can project to several glomerular loci. From the necklace olfactory system, an average of 150-200 receptor cells were estimated to converge onto a single necklace glomerulus.

The brain has an estrogen-biosynthetic potential resulting from the presence of neuronal aromatase, which controls the intraneural sex-steroidal milieu and is involved in brain sexual differentiation, psychobehavioral regulation, and neuroprotection. In the rat brain, three distinct aromatase-P450-immunoreactive (AromP450-I) neural groups have been categorized in terms of their peak expression time (fetal, fetoneonatal, and young-to-adult groups), suggesting the presence of region-specific regulation on brain AromP450. In the present study, we compared the expressions between AromP450 protein and mRNA by using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization with an ovary-derived cRNA probe in serial sections of fetal, fetoneonatal, and adult male rat brains and then performed steroidal manipulations to evaluate the sex-steroidal effects on AromP450 in adult orchiectomized and adrenalectomized (OCX + ADX) male rats. As a result, prominent mRNA signals were detected in the fetal (i.e., the anterior medial preoptic nucleus) and fetoneonatal (i.e., the medial preopticoamygdaloid neuronal arc) groups, although no detectable signal was found in the "young-to-adult" group (i.e., the central amygdaloid nucleus). In addition, the "fetoneonatal" AromP450-I neurons were prominently reduced in number and intensity after OCX + ADX and then were reinstated by the administration of dihydrotestosterone, testosterone, or 17beta-estradiol. In contrast, none of the sex steroids had any significant effects on the young-to-adult group. Several possible explanations were explored for why the young-to-adult group may differ in aromatase expression and regulation, including the possibility that distinct splicing variants or isozymes for aromatase exist in the rat brain.