Nestin is a unique intermediate filament expressed for a short period in the developing heart. It was also documented in several cell types of the adult myocardium under pathological conditions such as myocardial infarction or fibrosis. However, circumstances of nestin re-occurrence in the diseased or aging heart have not been elucidated yet. In this work we immunohistochemically detected nestin to determine its expression and distribution pattern in the left ventricular myocardium of normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats and in the hypertrophic ones of spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats, both at the age of 1 and 1.5 year. No nestin+ cells were identified in the intact myocardium of 1-year-old WKY rats, whereas in the aged 1.5-year-old WKY rats nestin+ endothelial cells in some blood vessels were discovered. In the hypertrophic myocardium of all SHR rats, nestin was rarely detected in desmin+ vimentin- cardiomyocytes and in some vimentin+ interstitial cells often accumulated in clusters, varying in intensity of desmin immunoreactivity. Moreover, nestin was infrequently expressed in the endothelial cells of some myocardial blood vessels in 1-year-old SHR rats, but not in 1.5-year-old ones. Quantitative image analysis of nestin expression in the myocardium confirmed significant increase in 1.5-year-old WKY rats and in SHR rats of both ages compared to the intact 1-year-old WKY rats. This study firstly documents nestin re-expression indicating cytoskeletal remodelling in different cell types of the aging intact and chronically pressure over-loaded hypertrophied myocardium. Our findings confirm nestin involvement in complex changes during myocardial hypertrophy and progressive aging.

• Keywords
• Desmin, Myocardial hypertrophy, Myocardium, Nestin, Vimentin,
• MeSH
• Hypertension metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Myocytes, Cardiac metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Myocardium * metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Nestin * metabolism   MeSH
• Rats, Inbred SHR MeSH
• Rats, Inbred WKY MeSH
• Intermediate Filament Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Nerve Tissue Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Aging * metabolism   pathology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Nes protein, rat MeSH Browser
• Nestin * MeSH
• Intermediate Filament Proteins MeSH
• Nerve Tissue Proteins MeSH

Nestin is a class VI intermediate filament protein expressed in the cytoplasm of stem and progenitor cells in the mammalian CNS during development. In adults, nestin is present only in a small subset of cells and tissues, including the subventricular zone of the adult mammalian brain, where neurogenesis occurs. Nestin expression has also been detected under such pathological conditions as ischemia, inflammation, and brain injury, as well as in various types of human solid tumors and their corresponding cell lines. Furthermore, nestin was recently found in the nuclei of glioblastoma, neuroblastoma, and angiosarcoma cells and it was proved to interact directly with the nuclear DNA in neuroblastoma cells. Here, we perform the first study of the intracellular distribution of nestin in cell lines derived from neurogenic tumors. Using immunodetection methods, we examined nestin expression in tumor-derived cell lines obtained from 11 patients with neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma, or glioblastoma multiforme. Besides its standard cytoplasmic localization, nestin was present in the nuclei of two neuroblastoma cell lines and one medulloblastoma cell line. Nestin was only present in the nuclei of cells with diffuse cytoplasmic staining for this protein, and the proportion of cells positive for nestin in nuclei, as well as the intensity of staining, varied. The presence of nestin in the nuclei was confirmed by both transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting. Our results indicate that the presence of nestin in the nuclei of tumor cells is not very rare, especially under in vitro conditions.

• MeSH
• Cell Nucleus chemistry   metabolism   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Fluorescent Antibody Technique MeSH
• Glioblastoma metabolism   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Immunohistochemistry MeSH
• Infant MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Medulloblastoma metabolism   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Cell Line, Tumor MeSH
• Nestin MeSH
• Neuroblastoma metabolism   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Child, Preschool MeSH
• Intermediate Filament Proteins analysis   metabolism   MeSH
• Nerve Tissue Proteins analysis   metabolism   MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Microscopy, Electron, Transmission MeSH
• Blotting, Western MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Infant MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Child, Preschool MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• NES protein, human MeSH Browser
• Nestin MeSH
• Intermediate Filament Proteins MeSH
• Nerve Tissue Proteins MeSH