Midkine, a new neurotrophic factor, is present in glial cytoplasmic inclusions of multiple system atrophy brains.

The glial cytoplasmic inclusion (GCI) is a histological hallmark for multiple system atrophy (MSA): these inclusions are found in oligodendrocytes and consist of abnormal granule-coated fibrils of approximately 24- to 40-nm diameter. To clarify the significance of the presence of midkine (MK) in these GCIs, we carried out immunohistochemical, electron and immunoelectron microscopical, and Western blot analyses of MSA brains using a monoclonal antibody against the C-terminal region of human MK. Immunohistochemically, most of the GCIs were intensely stained by the antibody to MK. Electron and immunoelectron microscopy showed that the GCIs were composed of MK-positive granule-coated fibrils that were essential constituents of these inclusions. No significant MK immunoreactivity was observed in oligodendrocytes, astrocytes and neurons of the normal control subjects. The presence of MK in MSA brain but not in normal brain was confirmed by Western blotting. Together with the fact that MK is associated with fetal morphogenesis during the midgestation period, the presence of MK immunoreactivity in oligodendroglial GCIs may suggest the existence of a repair mechanism on the basis of morphogenesis in the degenerated oligodendrocytes themselves as well as the affected neurons and their axons through the oligodendrocyte-axon-neuron relationship.