Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, Vol. 49, 1311-1320, October 2001, Copyright © 2001, The Histochemical Society, Inc.
Location of Sialoglycoconjugates Containing the Sia
2-3Gal and Sia
2-6Gal Groups in the Rat Hippocampus and the Effect of Aging on Their Expression
Yuji Satoa,
Yoshihiro Akimotob,
Hayato Kawakamib,
Hiroshi Hiranob,c, and
Tamao Endoa
a Department of Glycobiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology
b Department of Anatomy, Kyorin University School of Medicine
c Nittai Jusei Medical College for Judo Therapeutics, Tokyo, Japan
Correspondence to:
Tamao Endo, Dept. of Glycobiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Inst. of Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan. E-mail: endo@tmig.or.jp
The histochemical distribution of sialoglycoconjugates in the CA1 region in the hippocampus formation of 9-week-old rats and 30-month-old rats was examined using electron microscopy in combination with two lectins, Maackia amurensis lectin, specific for Sia
2-3Gal, and Sambucus sieboldiana agglutinin, specific for Sia
2-6Gal. Each lectin stained the plasma membranes of pyramidal cells, indicating that the Sia
2-3Gal and Sia
2-6Gal groups were expressed on their plasma membranes. These lectins also bound to synapses in the stratum lacunosum moleculare. The staining intensity of the lectins in the synapses in these layers was downregulated in the 30-month-old rats. These results indicated that both the Sia
2-3Gal and Sia
2-6Gal groups are expressed on these synapses and that the expression of these sialyl linkages decreases in the aged brain.
(J Histochem Cytochem 49:13111319, 2001)
Key Words:
sialoglycoconjugate, hippocampus, aging, lectin, neuron, synapse