EXPRESSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF CC CHEMOKINE MACROPHAGE INFLAMMATORY PROTEIN-1-ALPHA LD78 IN THE HUMAN BRAIN/

MACROPHAGE inflammatory protein (MIP)-1 alpha, also known as LD78, is a member of a family of chemokines which recruit leukocytes to sites o f inflammation. We have shown by Northern blot analyses that MIP-1 alp ha mRNA is expressed in several human tissues, including brain. To exp lore MIP-1 alpha distribution in brain tissue, we immunohistochemicall y examined brain tissues from 13 neuropsychiatric patients. Glial cell s in the white matter of brain tissues from four patients with schizop hrenia and one with manic depressive illness were MIP-1 alpha positive . Glial cells in the cortex from these patients were negative, except in one patient with schizophrenia in whom neurones as well as glial ce lls in the cortex stained positively for MIP-1 alpha. In situ hybridiz ation showed that MIP-1 alpha mRNA was expressed in both neurones as w ell as glial cells in this patient These results suggest a heterogeneo us distribution of MIP-1 alpha in human brain.