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Lectins are proteins which specifically bind (or crosslink) carbohydrates. Recently, importance of glycosylation has been emphasized in pathogenesis of diseases. Lectin-positive spherical deposits (SPD), 3-10 micron in diameter, have been detected in the molecular layer of dentate gyrus of hippocampus in schizophrenia, dementia, Down's syndrome, and aged individuals. In schizophrenia, SPD was observed without exception, regardless of having history of pharmacotherapy. By using multi-labeling histochemical methods, single strand DNA was co-localized in hippocampal SPD of schizophrenia with lectin, including GSI-B4 for galactose, and UEA-I for fucose, suggesting that SPD formation in schizophrenia is related to apoptotic process. The molecular basis of SPD formation should further be investigated in brains with neuropsychiatric illnesses.

We examined the effect of maternal repeated cold stress (RCS) on the development of catecholamine neurons in offspring using 8-day-old offspring and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunohistochemistry. RCS was loaded to pregnant rats between days 10 and 20 after fertilization. The frontal and cingulate cortices tended to contain fewer TH-immunoreactive (-ir) fibers, and the density of TH-ir varicosities with a large size (more than 7 μm in diameter) was significantly (p

Lectins are proteins which specifically bind (or crosslink) carbohydrates. Recent studies have shown the importance of glycosylation in pathogenesis of diseases. Lectin-positive spherical deposits (SPD), 3-10 micron in diameter, have been detected in the molecular layer of dentate gyrus of hippocampus in dementia, Down’s syndrome, and schizophrenia. In schizophrenia, SPD was observed without exception, regardless of having history of pharmacotherapy. Multi-labeling histochemical methods, revealed that single strand DNA was co-localized in hippocampal SPD of schizophrenia with lectin, including GSI-B4 for galactose, and UEA-I for fucose, suggesting that SPD formation in schizophrenia is related to apoptotic process. The molecular basis of SPD formation should detailly investigated in brains with neuropsychiatric illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease