Work

Molecular features of hypothalamic plaques in Alzheimer's disease.

Year: 1991

Type: article

Abstract: The pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) involves subcortical as well as cortical structures. The authors have used immunohistochemical methods to study the molecular composition of AD plaques in the hypothalamus. In contrast to previous studies using histochemical methods, the authors observed large numbers of diffuse plaques in the AD hypothalamus labeled with an antiserum to the beta-amyloid, or A4 peptide, of the beta-amyloid precursor proteins (beta APPs), whereas A4-immunoreactive plaques were uncommon in the hypothalamus of patients without AD. Unlike plaques in the cortex and hippocampus of AD patients, hypothalamic plaques did not contain epitopes corresponding to other regions of the beta APPs, nor did they contain tau-, neurofilament-, or microtubule-associated protein-reactive epitopes, and did not disrupt the neuropil or produce astrogliosis. These findings demonstrate that there are substantial molecular and cellular differences in the pathologic features of AD in the hypothalamus compared with those observed in hippocampal and cortical structures, which may provide insight into the pathogenetic mechanisms of AD.

Source: PubMed Central

Authors: D G Standaert, V M Lee, B D Greenberg, D E Lowery, J Q Trojanowski

Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Language: English

Topic: Alzheimer's disease research and treatments

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Aging

Award: Molecular substrates of aging and neuron death