title: RNA sequestration to pathological lesions of neurodegenerative diseases.
abstract: Cytoplasmic RNA species have been identified recently within neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease brain. To determine whether RNA sequestration is a common feature of other lesions found in progressive neurodegenerative disorders, acridine orange histofluorescence was employed, alone or in combination with immunohistochemistry and thioflavine-S staining to identify RNA species in paraffin-embedded brain tissue sections. Postmortem samples came from 39 subjects with the following diagnoses: Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism-dementia complex of Guam, corticobasal degeneration, diffuse Lewy body disease, normal controls, multiple system atrophy, Parkinson's disease, Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, and Shy-Drager syndrome. RNAs were detected in neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic senile plaques as well as in Pick bodies. However, Lewy bodies, Hirano bodies, and cytoplasmic glial inclusions did not contain abundant cytoplasmic RNA species. These observations demonstrate the selective localization of RNA species to distinct pathological lesions of neurodegenerative disease brains.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104-4283, USA. sginsber@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Ginsberg
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Galvin
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Masliah
authors.forename: J Q
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Trojanowski
mesh_terms: D000165:Acridine Orange / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D012313:RNA; D000165:Acridine Orange