Ultrastructure of neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease by means of tilt-stage electron microscopy.
Neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease were examined by means of tilt-stage electron microscopy. Observing a longitudinal direction, constricted parts of the NFT did not move in an axial direction. In a transverse section, a fibril of the NFT consisted of globular subunits having a hollow structure in the center and did not appear as paired filaments. From these findings, it was considered that a fibril of NFT consists of twisted protofilaments made up of globular subunits and does not consist of paired helical filaments.
Katsuragi
S
S
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kumamoto University Medical School, Japan.
Miyakawa
T
T
Ouchi
K
K
Kuramoto
R
R
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000648:ultrastructure*