title: Staging of Alzheimer disease-associated neurofibrillary pathology using paraffin sections and immunocytochemistry.
abstract: Assessment of Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related neurofibrillary pathology requires a procedure that permits a sufficient differentiation between initial, intermediate, and late stages. The gradual deposition of a hyperphosphorylated tau protein within select neuronal types in specific nuclei or areas is central to the disease process. The staging of AD-related neurofibrillary pathology originally described in 1991 was performed on unconventionally thick sections (100 mum) using a modern silver technique and reflected the progress of the disease process based chiefly on the topographic expansion of the lesions. To better meet the demands of routine laboratories this procedure is revised here by adapting tissue selection and processing to the needs of paraffin-embedded sections (5-15 mum) and by introducing a robust immunoreaction (AT8) for hyperphosphorylated tau protein that can be processed on an automated basis. It is anticipated that this revised methodological protocol will enable a more uniform application of the staging procedure.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical Neuroanatomy, J.W. Goethe University Clinic, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt/Main, Germany. Braak@em.uni-frankfurt.de
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Braak
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alafuzoff
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Arzberger
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kretzschmar
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Del Tredici
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016612:Paraffin Embedding / Q000379:methods*; D016707:Tissue Fixation / Q000379:methods; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016875:tau Proteins