Alterations of glial fibrillary acidic protein mRNA level in the aging brain and in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type.
The GFAP mRNA levels were compared to the density of the senile plaques (SP) in postmortem brain samples of 8 cases, either non-demented or affected by senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. In the frontal neocortex, the GFAP mRNA level is not affected, even if SP are present. In the temporal neocortex, a positive correlation between GFAP mRNA level and SP density was highly significant. This shows that in this area, astrocytes are altered at transcriptional or post-transcriptional levels, or both. The different responses of this astrogliosis marker in each area may be related to the loss of specific neurotransmitter system.
Le Prince
G
G
INSERM U 282, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Creteil, France.
Delaere
P
P
Fages
C
C
Duyckaerts
C
C
Hauw
J J
JJ
Tardy
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001345:Autoradiography; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006801:Humans; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D012333:RNA, Messenger