VGF C-terminus peptide changes in human.

<p>In plasma (A), ALS patients reveal a reduction in the VGF C-terminus peptide levels seen in the late stage (n = 18) compared to the controls (n = 45) and patients at the early stage (n = 23) (mean ± SEM; percentage of decrease: 16%, p<0.04). In human fibroblasts (B) taken from patients at the late stage of disease, VGF C-terminus peptide levels are significant decreased irrespective to the mutation (mean ± SEM; percentage of decrease 47% p<0.04; 51%, p<0.02 for TDP-43 and unknown etiology, respectively). Values (from 3 sets of experiments for each tissue) are expressed as percent of control level. Immunocitochemistry (C, D) shows the localization of VGF C-terminus peptides into the cytoplasm and especially within the vesicular membrane system in both controls (C) and ALS patients (D). No changes in the VGF immunolocalization were seen between ALS patients and controls. VGF: yellow/red (Cy3), hoechst 33342 (blue): nucleus. Data referring to 4 sets of experiments. Scale bar: 10μm.