Definition
NSE is the acronym for Neuron-Specific Enolase, the neuronal isoform of the enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of 2-phosphoglycerate and phosphoenolpyruvate in glycolysis.
Features
NSE, a 46 kDa γ-γ isoenzyme of enolase, belongs to the enolase family, which is composed of five different forms: there are three homodimers and two hybrids. The subunits of enolases are α, β, and γ and they can form homodimers or heterodimers that are cell-type and development-specific (Chai et al. 2004). The γ-γ homodimer and the α-γ heterodimer are both expressed in neurons. The α-α homodimer, instead, is in embryo and in most adult tissue, whereas the α-β heterodimer and the β-β homodimer are expressed in striated muscle cells. During ontogenesis, there is a transition from α-α homodimer to the α-β heterodimer in striated muscle cells and to α-γ heterodimer in nerve cells.
ENO2 is the gene encoding for...
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References and Further Reading
Chai, G., Brewer, J. M., Lovelace, L. L., Aoki, T., Minor, W., & Lebioda, L. (2004). Expression, purification and the 1.8 Å resolution crystal structure of human neuron specific enolase. Journal of Molecular Biology, 341(4), 1015–1021.
Mjønes, P., Sagatun, L., Nordrum, I. S., & Waldum, H. L. (2017). Neuron-specific enolase as an immunohistochemical marker is better than its reputation. The Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, 65(12), 687–703.
Schmechel, D., Marangos, P. J., & Brichtman, M. (1978). Neurone-specific enolase is a molecular marker for peripheral and central neuroendocrine cells. Nature, 276(5690), 834–836.
Simpson, S., Vinik, A. I., Marangos, P. J., & Lloyd, R. V. (1984). Immunohistochemical localization of neuron-specific enolase in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Correlation with tissue and serum levels of neuron-specific enolase. Cancer, 54(7), 1364–1369.
Taomoto, K., Kokunai, T., Okuda, T., Tamaki, N., Matsumoto, S., & Hashimoto, N. (1987). The value of neuron specific enolase (NSE) in patients with brain tumors. No to shinkei= Brain and nerve, 39(2), 169–173.
Uccella, S., La Rosa, S., Volante, M., & Papotti, M. (2018). Immunohistochemical biomarkers of gastrointestinal, pancreatic, pulmonary, and thymic neuroendocrine neoplasms. Endocrine Pathology, 29(2), 150–168. https://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P09104. Accessed 6 Jan 2020.
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Chiaravalli, A.M., D’Amato Pascarella, R. (2020). Neuron Specific Enolase (NSE). In: van Krieken, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5091-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5091-1
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