Heterotrimeric G protein-dependent WNT-5A signaling to ERK1/2 mediates distinct aspects of microglia proinflammatory transformation.

Background: WNT-5A signaling in the central nervous system is important for morphogenesis, neurogenesis and establishment of functional connectivity; the source of WNT-5A and its importance for cellular communication in the adult brain, however, are mainly unknown. We have previously investigated the inflammatory effects of WNT/β-catenin signaling in microglia in Alzheimer's disease. WNT-5A, however, generally recruits β-catenin-independent signaling.

New splicing variants for human Tyrosine Hydroxylase gene with possible implications for the detection of minimal residual disease in patients with neuroblastoma.

Expression of Tyrosine Hydroxylase (TH) is frequently seen in neuroblastomas, the most common extracranial tumor in children, and TH mRNA detection is used for the analysis of microcirculating or micrometastatic disease in this neoplasia. TH is known to have at least seven isoforms produced by alternative splicing of the N-terminal region (exons 1-4), although no other splicing variants have been described downstream. TH expression was analyzed in six samples of neuroblastoma by RT-PCR using highly restrictive conditions and primers between exons 5 and 12, a region of the gene previously considered to be constant.