title: Neuronal and glial tau-positive inclusions in diverse neurologic diseases share common phosphorylation characteristics.
abstract: Tau accumulating as paired helical filaments (PHF) in Alzheimer's disease brain is considered to be abnormally phosphorylated on distinct sites. To compare the phosphorylation state of tau-positive neuronal inclusions among diverse neurologic diseases, we have probed these lesions with three well-defined PHF/tau monoclonals, C5, M4 and tau 1, that most likely recognize three proline-directed phosphorylation sites in PHF-tau. In Alzheimer's disease brain all three monoclonals intensely immunostained intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, neuropil threads, senile plaque neurites, and "pretangle neurons" in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. They also stained, in the same manner, Pick bodies in Pick's disease, and neurofibrillary tangles and neuropil threads in various tangle-forming neurologic diseases. In most of these diseases (including Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, and Alzheimer's disease) astrocytes and oligodendrocytes were found to contain tau-positive inclusions which showed the same immunocytochemical characteristics. Thus, the widely occurring tau-positive inclusions share common phosphorylation characteristics irrespective of underlying diseases or cell types.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropathology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwatsubo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ihara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009474:Neurons / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D016875:tau Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases