Presenilin-1 expression in Pick's disease.
Recent studies have reported that neuronal populations expressing low levels of presenilin-1 (PS-1) display increased vulnerability in late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). To examine whether this phenomenon also occurs in other neurodegenerative diseases, we performed a quantitative immunocytochemical study of PS-1 distribution in the cerebral cortex of Pick's disease (PiD) cases and non-demented individuals. In PiD cases, the percentage of PS-1-containing, Pick body (PB)-free neurons was significantly elevated only in cortical areas showing neuronal loss. In these areas, PS-1 levels, measured by immunoblotting, were often higher in PiD compared to non-demented cases. Moreover, PS-1 immunoreactivity was significantly reduced in PB-containing neurons. These data suggest that as previously shown in AD, low cellular expression of PS-1 may be associated with increased neuronal loss and cellular degeneration.
Giannakopoulos
P
P
Department of Psychiatry, Clinic of Geriatric Psychiatry, HUG Belle-Idée, University of Geneva School of Medicine, CH-1225 Geneva, Switzerland. giannako@cmu.unige.ch
Kövari
E
E
Buée
L
L
Shioi
J
J
Hof
P R
PR
Robakis
N K
NK
Bouras
C
C
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D020774:Pick Disease of the Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D053764:Presenilin-1
D008565:Membrane Proteins; C508853:PSEN1 protein, human; D053764:Presenilin-1