Gallyas- and tau-positive glial structures in motor neuron disease with dementia.
We have studied Gallyas- and tau-positive glial structures in three autopsied cases of motor neuron disease with dementia (MND-D). Gallyas-positive, tau-immunoreactive thread-like structures in the neuropil and crescent/coiled inclusions in the glial cells were mainly observed in the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and amygdaloid nucleus. Double staining using Gallyas staining and carbonic anhydrase 2 (CA2) immunohistochemistry revealed that some crescent/coiled inclusions occurred in the CA2-immunopositive cytoplasm of the oligodendroglia. Electron microscopic study with the Gallyas-Braak method revealed that the inclusion was a reticular, partly compact mass, containing 15 nm fibrils around round or oval nuclei. Since the regions where these structures appeared exhibited neuronal loss with gliosis, these data suggest that a cytoskeletal abnormality involving tau protein in glia might be associated with the degenerative process of MND-D.
Noda
K
K
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Japan.
Katayama
S
S
Watanabe
C
C
Yamamura
Y
Y
Nakamura
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000032:analysis; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D016472:Motor Neuron Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000473:pathology; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000473:pathology*; D019581:Neuropil / Q000473:pathology; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000473:pathology; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
D004396:Coloring Agents; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D016875:tau Proteins