Mouse anti-TGN38 monoclonal antibody

Intracellular pools of the heterotrimeric G-protein alpha-subunit G alpha i3 (encoded by GNAI3) have been shown to promote growth factor signaling, while at the same time inhibiting the activation of JNK and autophagic signaling following nutrient starvation. The precise molecular mechanisms linking G alpha i3 to both stress and growth factor signaling remain poorly understood. Importantly, JNK-mediated phosphorylation of Bcl-2 was previously found to activate autophagic signaling following nutrient deprivation. Our data shows that activated G alpha i3 decreases Bcl-2 phosphorylation, whereas inhibitors of G alpha i3, such as RGS4 and AGS3 (also known as GPSM1), markedly increase the levels of phosphorylated Bcl-2. Manipulation of the palmitoylation status and intracellular localization of RGS4 suggests that G alpha i3 modulates phosphorylated Bcl-2 levels and autophagic signaling from discreet TGN38 (also known as TGOLN2)-labeled vesicle pools. Consistent with an important role for these molecules in normal tissue responses to nutrient deprivation, increased G alpha i signaling within nutrient-starved adrenal glands from RGS4-knockout mice resulted in a dramatic abrogation of autophagic flux, compared to wild-type tissues. Together, these data suggest that the activity of G alpha i3 and RGS4 from discreet TGN38-labeled vesicle pools are critical regulators of autophagic signaling that act via their ability to modulate phosphorylation of Bcl-2.

Family, twin, and adoption studies provide convincing evidence for a genetic contribution to suicidal behavior. The heritability for suicidal behavior depends in part on the transmission of psychiatric disorders, such as mood disorders and substance use disorders, but is also partly independent of them. Three linkage studies using the attempted suicide phenotype in pedigrees with bipolar disorder, major depression, or alcoholism have provided consistent evidence that 2p11-12 harbors a susceptibility gene for attempted suicide. A microarray expression study using postmortem brain samples has implicated a gene from the 2p11-12 candidate region, the trans-Golgi network protein 2 (TGOLN2) gene, as being consistently up-regulated in suicide cases as compared to controls. Here, we present a TGOLN2 case control control association study using nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These nine SNPs, which include seven tag SNPs and two coding SNPs, have been genotyped in 517 mood disorder subjects with a history of attempted suicide and 515 normal controls. Allelic and genotypic analyses of the case control sample did not provide evidence for association with the attempted suicide phenotype. Eight of the nine SNPs provided supportive evidence for association (P-values ranging from 0.008 to 0.03) when we compared the attempted suicide cases with a history of alcoholism to the attempted suicide cases without a history of alcoholism. However, this association finding was not replicated in an independent sample. Taken together, these analyses do not provide support for the hypothesis that common genetic variation in TGOLN2 contributes significantly to the risk for attempted suicide in subjects with major mood disorders. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.