Enolase 2 Explained

Gamma-enolase, also known as enolase 2 (ENO2) or neuron specific enolase (NSE), is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ENO2 gene.^[1] Gamma-enolase is a phosphopyruvate hydratase.

Gamma-enolase is one of the three enolase isoenzymes found in mammals. This isoenzyme, a homodimer, is found in mature neurons and cells of neuronal origin. A switch from alpha enolase to gamma enolase occurs in neural tissue during development in rats and primates.

Utility

Detection of NSE with antibodies can be used to identify neuronal cells and cells with neuroendocrine differentiation. NSE is produced by small-cell carcinomas, which are neuroendocrine in origin. NSE is therefore a useful tumor marker for distinguishing small-cell carcinomas from other tumors.^[2]

Further reading

• Oliva D, Calì L, Feo S, Giallongo A . Complete structure of the human gene encoding neuron-specific enolase. . Genomics . 10 . 1 . 157–65 . 1991 . 2045099 . 10.1016/0888-7543(91)90496-2 .
• Craig SP, Day IN, Thompson RJ, Craig IW . Localisation of neurone-specific enolase (ENO2) to 12p13. . Cytogenet. Cell Genet. . 54 . 1–2 . 71–3 . 1991 . 2249478 . 10.1159/000132960 .
• Oliva D . Cloning, expression and sequence homologies of cDNA for human gamma enolase . Gene . 79 . 2 . 355–60 . 1989 . 2792767 . 10.1016/0378-1119(89)90217-5 . Barba G . Barbieri G . Giallongo . A . Feo . S .
• McAleese SM . Complete amino acid sequence of the neurone-specific gamma isozyme of enolase (NSE) from human brain and comparison with the non-neuronal alpha form (NNE) . Eur. J. Biochem. . 178 . 2 . 413–7 . 1989 . 3208766 . 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1988.tb14465.x . Dunbar B . Fothergill JE . Hinks . Lesley J. . Day . Ian N.M. .
• Van Obberghen E . Human gamma enolase: isolation of a cDNA clone and expression in normal and tumor tissues of human origin . J. Neurosci. Res. . 19 . 4 . 450–6 . 1988 . 3385803 . 10.1002/jnr.490190409 . Kamholz J . Bishop JG . Zomzely-Neurath . C. . Lazzarini . R. A. . Lazzarini . RA . 20636218 .
• Day IN, Allsopp MT, Moore DC, Thompson RJ . Sequence conservation in the 3'-untranslated regions of neurone-specific enolase, lymphokine and protooncogene mRNAs . FEBS Lett. . 222 . 1 . 139–43 . 1987 . 3653393 . 10.1016/0014-5793(87)80207-7 . 8011122 .
• Haimoto H . Immunohistochemical localization of gamma-enolase in normal human tissues other than nervous and neuroendocrine tissues . Lab. Invest. . 52 . 3 . 257–63 . 1985 . 3974199 . Takahashi Y . Koshikawa T . Nagura . H . Kato . K .
• Quan CP . Purification and partial amino acid sequence of suppressive lymphokine from a CD8+ CD57+ human T hybridoma . Immunology . 78 . 2 . 205–9 . 1993 . 7682534 . 1421811 . Watanabe S . Vuillier F . Pires . R . Matsuo . T . Stanislawski . M . Pillot . J . Bouvet . JP .
• Angelov DN . Axotomy induces intranuclear immunolocalization of neuron-specific enolase in facial and hypoglossal neurons of the rat . J. Neurocytol. . 23 . 4 . 218–33 . 1994 . 8035205 . 10.1007/BF01275526 . Neiss WF . Gunkel A . Guntinas-Lichius . O. . Stennert . E. . 10829701 .
• Pechumer H, Bender-Götze C, Ziegler-Heitbrock HW . Detection of neuron-specific gamma-enolase messenger ribonucleic acid in normal human leukocytes by polymerase chain reaction amplification with nested primers . Lab. Invest. . 69 . 6 . 743–9 . 1994 . 8264236 .
• Ansari-Lari MA . Large-scale sequencing in human chromosome 12p13: experimental and computational gene structure determination . Genome Res. . 7 . 3 . 268–80 . 1997 . 9074930 . 10.1101/gr.7.3.268 . Shen Y . Muzny DM . Lee . W . Gibbs . R A . free.
• Lau L . Neuroblastoma: a single institution's experience with 128 children and an evaluation of clinical and biological prognostic factors . Pediatric Hematology and Oncology . 19 . 2 . 79–89 . 2002 . 11881792 . 10.1080/08880010252825669 . 24248646 .
• Wijnberger LD . Expression in the placenta of neuronal markers for perinatal brain damage . Pediatr. Res. . 51 . 4 . 492–6 . 2002 . 11919335 . 10.1203/00006450-200204000-00015 . Nikkels PG . van Dongen AJ . Noorlander . Cornelle W. . Mulder . Eduard J.H. . Schrama . Loes H. . Visser . Gerard H.A. . free .
• O'Dwyer DT . Pituitary autoantibodies in lymphocytic hypophysitis target both gamma- and alpha-Enolase - a link with pregnancy? . Arch. Physiol. Biochem. . 110 . 1–2 . 94–8 . 2002 . 11935405 . 10.1076/apab.110.1.94.897 . Clifton V . Hall A . Smith . R. . Robinson . P.J. . Crock . P.A. . 24218508 .
• Chekhonin VP . Serum time course of two brain-specific proteins, alpha(1) brain globulin and neuron-specific enolase, in tick-born encephalitis and Lyme disease . Clin. Chim. Acta . 320 . 1–2 . 117–25 . 2002 . 11983209 . 10.1016/S0009-8981(02)00057-8 . Zhirkov YA . Belyaeva IA . Ryabukhin . Igor A . Gurina . Olga I . Dmitriyeva . Tatiana B .
• Nakatsuka S . Enhanced expression of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in pyothorax-associated lymphoma (PAL) . Jpn. J. Cancer Res. . 93 . 4 . 411–6 . 2005 . 11985791 . 5927012 . 10.1111/j.1349-7006.2002.tb01272.x . Nishiu M . Tomita Y . Miwa . H . Takakuwa . T . Iuchi . K . Yamamoto . S . Aozasa . K .
• Fujiwara H . Clinical significance of serum neuron-specific enolase in patients with adult T-cell leukemia . Am. J. Hematol. . 71 . 2 . 80–4 . 2002 . 12353304 . 10.1002/ajh.10190 . Arima N . Ohtsubo H . Matsumoto . Tadashi . Kukita . Toshimasa . Kawada . Hideaki . Imaizumi . Rie . Ozaki . Atsuo . Matsushita . Kakushi . 20608717 . free .
• Strausberg RL . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . Feingold EA . Grouse LH . Derge . JG . Klausner . RD . Collins . FS . Wagner . L . Shenmen . CM . Schuler . GD . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Rodríguez-Núñez A . Neuron-specific enolase, nucleotides, nucleosides, purine bases, oxypurines and uric acid concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid of children with meningitis . Brain Dev. . 25 . 2 . 102–6 . 2003 . 12581805 . 10.1016/S0387-7604(02)00160-2 . Cid E . Rodríguez-García J . Camiña . F . Rodríguez-Segade . S . Castro-Gago . M . 26015330 .
• Muley T . Technical performance and diagnostic utility of the new Elecsys neuron-specific enolase enzyme immunoassay . Clin. Chem. Lab. Med. . 41 . 1 . 95–103 . 2003 . 12636057 . 10.1515/CCLM.2003.017 . Ebert W . Stieber P . Raith . Hannelore . Holdenrieder . Stefan . Nagel . Dorothea . Fürst . Heinrich . Roth . Hans-Jürgen . Luthe . Hilmar . 11971809 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: ENO2 enolase 2 (gamma, neuronal). NCBI Entrez Gene database.
2. Clegg N, Ferguson C, True LD, Arnold H, Moorman A, Quinn JE, Vessella RL, Nelson PS . Molecular characterization of prostatic small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma . Prostate . 55 . 1 . 55–64 . April 2003 . 12640661 . 10.1002/pros.10217 . 8778642 .