Neuron Specific Enolase, A Clinically Useful Marker for Neurons and Neuroendocrine Cells

The rationale for studying cell specific proteins is rooted in the realization that proteins strictly localized or even greatly enriched in a given cell type are likely to be involved in biochemical events that are either specific to that cell type or performed in a different manner by that particular cell. This concept is further strengthened if the cell specific protein has an ontogenetic appearance that parallels that of the differentiation of the cell. The biochemical characterization of the proteins, actin, myosin, and troponin, in muscle as well as hemoglobin in red cells and tubulin in nerve cells constitutes examples illustrating the usefulness of this approach. In all these cases the structural and functional charactcrization of a given protein provided key insights regarding the function of specific cell types. The elucidation and characterization of nervous system specific proteins