| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥1,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In our previous study, elderly patients with leprosy have a low prevalence of senile dementia of Alzheimer type. In addition, the frequency of (β-amyloid protein deposition was lower, and hippocampal neurons were well preserved in the brain of non-demented patients with leprosy than in controls. In the present study, we examined the levels of Alzheimer's disease-related genes (β-amyloid precursor protein, presenilin-1,-2,apolipoprotein E, tau), neurotrofic factors and cytokines (NGF,GDNF,CNTF,BDNF,IGF-1,NT-3,TGF-β,IL-2,IL-6,IL-12), proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α,IFN-γ,IL-1α/β) and C-C chemokines (MCP-1,RANTES) mRNA by reverse transcription-competitive PCR in human neural cell lines (SK-N-SH,IMR-32) following infection with Mycobacterium leprae. The constitutive expression of every kind of Alzheimer's disease-related genes, and CNTF,BDNF,IGF-1,NT-3,IL-12,TNF-α,IL-1α/β,RANTES mRNA was identified in these cell lines. The levels of Alzheimer's disease-related genes mRNA were unaltered in IMR-32 cell lines following exposure to lysate of Mycobacterium leprae, whereas PS-2 mRNA expression was upregulated in SK-N-SH cells after this treatment. The levels of RANTES mRNA was also upregulated in both cell lines after this treatment. These results indicate that the existence of cell specific mechanisms and/or different regulatory system for the expression of PS-1,2 genes in human neural cells. These finding is also speculated that Mycobacterium leprae-infected human neural cells produce C-C chemokine RANTES, its induce focal inflammatory with resulting nerve damage in central nervous system. Further work is in progress to clear the significance of expression of Alzheimer's disease-related genes in human neural cells following infection with Mycobacterium leprae.
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