Immunocytochemical evidence that the beta-protein precursor is an integral component of neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's disease.
Amyloid beta (A beta) immunoreactivity has been demonstrated in all extracellular neurofibrillary tangles (E-NFT) and most intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (I-NFT). We undertook this immunocytochemical study to understand the relationship between A beta immunoreactivity localized in NFT and beta-protein precursor (beta PP). We found epitopes of amino-, mid-, and carboxyl-terminal domains of beta PP in I-NFT and the majority of E-NFT. NFT retained beta PP after ionic detergent extraction, demonstrating that beta PP is an integral component of NFT. Finding beta PP in regions of A beta immunoreactivity raises the possibility that beta PP or its fragments associate with amyloid, and that the stability of A beta is responsible for its dominance in amyloid deposits.
Perry
G
G
Division of Neuropathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4907.
Richey
P L
PL
Siedlak
S L
SL
Smith
M A
MA
Mulvihill
P
P
DeWitt
D A
DA
Barnett
J
J
Greenberg
B D
BD
Kalaria
R N
RN
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D000939:Epitopes; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure
D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D000939:Epitopes