S100-mediated signal transduction in the nervous system and neurological diseases

This article presents new information regarding the complement/level of S100 family members expressed in the brain and reviews the contribution of brain S100 family members to nervous system function and disease. A total of ten S100 family members are reported in the literature to be expressed in brain -S100A1, S100A2, S100A4, S100A5, S100A6, S100A10, S100A11, S100A13, S100B, and S100Z. Quantitative Northern blot analysis detected no S100A3, S100A8, S100A9 or S100A14 mRNA in mouse brain suggesting that these family members are not expressed in the brain. In addition, there was a 100-fold range in the mRNA levels for the six family members that were detected in mouse brain: S100A1/S100B levels were 5-fold higher than S100A6/S100A10 levels and 100-fold higher than S100A4/S100A13 levels. Five of these six family members (S1100A1, S100A6, S100A10, S100A13, and S100B) exhibited age-dependent increases in expression in adult mice that ranged from 5- to 20-fold. Although previous studies on S100 function in the nervous system have focused on S100B, other family members (S100A1, S100A3, S100A4, S100A5) have been implicated in neurological diseases. Like S100B, intra- and inter-cellular forms of these family members have been linked to cell growth, cell differentiation, and apoptotic pathways. Studies presented here demonstrate that ablation of S100A1 expression in PC12 cells results in increased resistance to Abeta peptide induced cell death, stabilization of intracellular [Ca2+] homeostasis, and reduced amyloid precursor protein expression. Altogether, these results confirm that S100-mediated signal transduction pathways play an important role in nervous system function/disease and implicate S100A1 in the neuronal cell dysfunction/death that occurs in Alzheimer's disease.