[Detection of level and mutation of neurofilament mRNA in Alzheimer's disease].
OBJECTIVE
To study if the increase of levels of neurofilament (NF)-M and NF-L in brain of Alzheimer's diseases (AD) is caused by increase of NF-M and NF-L.


METHODS
Semi-quantitative reverse transcription PCR was used to measure the NF-M and NF-L mRNA levels in the brain gray matter obtained by autopsy from 8 patients with AD and 7 age-matched patients with Huntington's disease (HD) used as controls. The mutation of NF-M and NF-L was detected by single strand DNA conformation polymorphism technique.


RESULTS
The levels of NF-M mRNA and NF-L mRNA were significantly lower in the brains of AD patients (0.3 +/- 0.03 * OD(NF-M)/OD(GAPDH) or OD(NF-L)/OD(GAPDH) and 0.44 +/- 0.16 * OD(NF-M)/OD(GAPDH) or OD(NF-L)/OD(GAPDH) respectively) than in the brains of HD patients (0.42 +/- 0.07 OD(NF-M)/OD(GAPDH) or OD(NF-L)/OD(GAPDH) and 0.79 +/- 0.09 OD(NF-M)/OD(GAPDH) or OD(NF-L)/OD(GAPDH) respectively) (P < 0.005 and P < 0.007 respectively). NF-M mutation was detected in one AD patient. No NF-L mutation was found in the samples examined.


CONCLUSIONS
The increase of neurofilament protein observed in the brains of AD patients is related neither to increased gene transcription nor to mutation of NF mRNA.
Department of Pathophysiology, Research Institute of Neuroscience, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Yipeng
Y
Wang
Qun
Q
Wang
Jianzhi
J
Wang
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C044882:neurofilament protein L; C061195:neurofilament protein M