TDP-43 is a component of ubiquitin-positive tau-negative inclusions in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Ubiquitin-positive tau-negative neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions and dystrophic neurites are common pathological features in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) with or without symptoms of motor neuron disease and in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Using biochemical and immunohistochemical analyses, we have identified a TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43), a nuclear factor that functions in regulating transcription and alternative splicing, as a component of these structures in FTLD. Furthermore, skein-like inclusions, neuronal intranuclear inclusions, and glial inclusions in the spinal cord of ALS patients are also positive for TDP-43. Dephosphorylation treatment of the sarkosyl insoluble fraction has shown that abnormal phosphorylation takes place in accumulated TDP-43. The common occurrence of intracellular accumulations of TDP-43 supports the hypothesis that these disorders represent a clinicopathological entity of a single disease, and suggests that they can be newly classified as a proteinopathy of TDP-43.
Arai
Tetsuaki
T
Department of Psychogeriatrics, Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8585, Japan. arai@prit.go.jp
Hasegawa
Masato
M
Akiyama
Haruhiko
H
Ikeda
Kenji
K
Nonaka
Takashi
T
Mori
Hiroshi
H
Mann
David
D
Tsuchiya
Kuniaki
K
Yoshida
Mari
M
Hashizume
Yoshio
Y
Oda
Tatsuro
T
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003704:Dementia / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000378:metabolism*; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C054369:MAPT protein, human; D025801:Ubiquitin; D016875:tau Proteins