Thy-1 in hippocampus: normal anatomy and neuritic growth in Alzheimer's disease.
Abnormal neuritic sprouting is a prominent feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the Thy-1 glycoprotein has a role in neurite growth in culture. We therefore investigated the distribution of Thy-1 immunoreactivity in the hippocampus of normal elderly patients and of AD patients. Normally, Thy-1 immunoreactivity, which was more prominent in CA1 than elsewhere in the hippocampus, was located mainly in irregular patches on the perikarya of pyramidal cells, their dendrites and axons. In AD, Thy-1-immunoreactive neurons were reduced in number in CA1, and there was diffuse staining of neurofibrillary tangle-bearing pyramidal cells, but neurofibrillary tangles themselves were not immunoreactive. There was also staining of disorganized arrays of dystrophic neurites, some with spiny processes and bizarre filopodial endings. Some Thy-1-immunoreactive dystrophic neurites entered senile plaques. The data confirm that there is extensive growth of abnormal neurites in AD and suggest that Thy-1 is involved in this process.
Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
D
D
Leifer
N W
NW
Kowall
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000032:analysis*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D016501:Neurites / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens