High expression of stanniocalcin in differentiated brain neurons

Stanniocalcin (STC) is a glycoprotein hormone first found in fish, in which it regulates calcium homeostasis and protects against hypercalcemia. Human and mouse stc cDNA were recently cloned. We found a dramatically upregulated expression of STC during induced neural differentiation in a human neural crest-derived cell line, Paju. Immunohistochemical staining of sections from human and adult mouse brain revealed abundant presence of STC in the neurons with no activity in the glial cells. STC expression was not seen in immature brain neurons of fetal or newborn mice. Given that STC has been found to regulate calcium/phosphate metabolism in some mammalian epithelia, we suggest that STC may act as a regulator of calcium homeostasis in terminally differentiated brain neurons.