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Expression of postsynaptic density proteins of the ProSAP/Shank family in the thymus

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Abstract

PSD95-DLG-ZO1 domain-containing proteins of the ProSAP/Shank family are major scaffolding proteins of the neuronal postsynaptic density which play a pivotal role in the linkage of membrane receptors to downstream signal effectors and the actin-based cytoskeleton. Recently, ProSAP1/Shank2 has also been localized in various non-neuronal cells where it may fulfill similar functions as in neurons. We now complement these data by the study of ProSAP/Shank expression at the mRNA and protein level in a primary lymphoid organ, i.e., the thymus. Transcripts for ProSAP1/Shank2, the spliceoform Shank2E, and ProSAP2/Shank3 could be clearly detected in the thymus. Western blot and immunocytochemical analyses verified the presence of ProSAP1/Shank2 and ProSAP2/Shank3 proteins in thymic tissue. Immunoreactivity was concentrated in the whole peripheral cytoplasm of thymocytes underneath the plasma membrane. Discrete subplasmalemmal areas of pronounced ProSAP/Shank immunoreactivity could be demonstrated inside several thymocytes by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Our results establish ProSAP/Shank as a constituent of the cell cortex of thymocytes and thus lead to the hypothesis that ProSAP/Shank proteins serve as a platform for the coordination of membrane receptor-dependent signal transduction in immune cells.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the skillful technical assistance of H. Böning and D. von Mayersbach. We thank M. Stephan for providing some additional tissue specimens. This study has been supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG (SFB 497, TP8) and by a grant from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg (1423/74) to TMB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell Biology, Center of Anatomy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Peter Redecker

  2. Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89081, Ulm, Germany

    Jürgen Bockmann & Tobias M. Böckers

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  1. Peter Redecker
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  2. Jürgen Bockmann
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Correspondence to Peter Redecker.

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Redecker, P., Bockmann, J. & Böckers, T.M. Expression of postsynaptic density proteins of the ProSAP/Shank family in the thymus. Histochem Cell Biol 126, 679–685 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-006-0199-9

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