title: Widespread occurrence of alpha-synuclein/NACP-immunoreactive neuronal inclusions in juvenile and adult-onset Hallervorden-Spatz disease with Lewy bodies.
abstract: Alpha-Synuclein (originally called precursor of the non-Abeta component of Alzheimer's disease amyloid-NACP) is a presynaptic nerve terminal protein and is now known to be a major component of Lewy bodies (LBs) in Parkinson's disease. Previous studies have shown that LBs are occasionally found in patients with Hallervorden-Spatz disease (HSD), a hereditary or sporadic neuroaxonal dystrophy. Therefore, an immunocytochemical examination of the brain tissues from two patients with HSD for alpha-synuclein/NACP was performed. In both cases, LBs were observed in the substantia nigra, locus ceruleus and other subcortical nuclei. These LBs were strongly immunolabelled with anti-alpha-synuclein/NACP. Moreover, abnormal alpha-synuclein/NACP-immunoreactive structures in the neuronal somata and processes were found in the cerebral neocortex, hippocampus, basal ganglia, thalamus, pontine and inferior olivary nuclei, spinal grey matter, and peripheral sympathetic ganglia. Although numerous dystrophic axons (spheroids) were found throughout the brain, either none or only a few were positive for alpha-synuclein/NACP. These findings suggest that widespread accumulation of alpha-synuclein/NACP is a pathological feature in patients suffering from HSD with LBs, and that this phenomenon is unrelated to axonal spheroid formation.
authors.affiliation: Brain Disease Research Center, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wakabayashi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshimoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koide
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Horikawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000378:metabolism*; D016631:Lewy Bodies / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D006211:Pantothenate Kinase-Associated Neurodegeneration / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D051843:Synucleins; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D051844:alpha-Synuclein
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C497604:SNCA protein, human; D051843:Synucleins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein