title: Distribution of N-acetylaspartylglutamate immunoreactivity in human brain and its alteration in neurodegenerative disease.
abstract: The dipeptide N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) may be involved in the process of glutamatergic signaling by both acting at glutamate receptors and as a glutamate protransmitter. In the present study we determined the cellular localization and distribution of NAAG-like immunoreactivity (NAAG-LI) in normal human brain and in neurodegenerative disorders to ascertain the degree of NAAG's colocalization to putative glutamatergic pathways. Immunohistochemistry with an antibody against NAAG was performed on control, Huntington's disease (HD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) human autopsy and biopsy brain sections from the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, neostriatum, brainstem and spinal cord. In normal human brain, NAAG-LI was widespread localized to putative glutamatergic pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Punctate NAAG-LI was present in areas known to receive neuronal glutamatergic input, such as layer IV of the cerebral cortex, striatal neuropil, and the outer portion of the molecular layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. In the two pathologic brain regions examined, the HD neostriatum and the AD temporal cortex, we observed a widespread loss of NAAG-LI neurons. In addition NAAG-LI reactive microglia surrounding plaques were seen in AD temporal cortex but not in the HD striatum. Our results suggest that NAAG is substantially localized to putative glutamatergic pathways in human brain and that NAAG-LI neurons are vulnerable to the neurodegenerative process in HD and AD.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, USA.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Passani
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vonsattel
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Coyle
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000937:Antigen-Antibody Reactions; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000737:chemistry; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000737:chemistry; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000032:analysis*; D012016:Reference Values; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004151:Dipeptides; D009479:Neuropeptides; C027172:isospaglumic acid