title: Cell death in Alzheimer's disease evaluated by DNA fragmentation in situ.
abstract: Loss of nerve cells is a hallmark of the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet the patterns of cell death are unknown. By analyzing DNA fragmentation in situ we found evidence for cell death not only of nerve cells but also of oligodendrocytes and microglia in AD brains. In average, 30 times more brain cells showed DNA fragmentation in AD as compared to age-matched controls. Nuclear alterations suggestive of apoptosis were rare in degenerating cells. Even though the majority of degenerating cells were not located within amyloid deposits and did not contain neurofibrillary tangles, neurons situated within areas of amyloid deposits or affected by neurofibrillary degeneration revealed a higher risk of DNA fragmentation and death than cells not exposed to these AD changes.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Experimental Neuropathology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wien.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lassmann
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bancher
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Breitschopf
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wegiel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bobinski
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jellinger
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wisniewski
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000032:analysis; D016923:Cell Death; D015342:DNA Probes; D018728:Entorhinal Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000276:immunology*; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D015342:DNA Probes