title: Loss of nonphosphorylated neurofilament immunoreactivity in temporal cortical areas in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: The distribution of immunoreactive neurons with nonphosphorylated neurofilament protein (SMI32) was studied in temporal cortical areas in normal subjects and in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). SMI32 immunopositive neurons were localized mainly in cortical layers II, III, V and VI, and were medium to large-sized pyramidal neurons. Patients with AD had prominent degeneration of SMI32 positive neurons in layers III and V of Brodmann areas 38, 36, 35 and 20; in layers II and IV of the entorhinal cortex (Brodmann area 28); and hippocampal neurons. Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) were stained with Thioflavin-S and with an antibody (AT8) against hyperphosphorylated tau. The NFT distribution was compared to that of the neuronal cytoskeletal marker SMI32 in these temporal cortical regions. The results showed that the loss of SMI32 immunoreactivity in temporal cortical regions of AD brain is paralleled by an increase in NFTs and AT8 immunoreactivity in neurons. The SMI32 immunoreactivity was drastically reduced in the cortical layers where tangle-bearing neurons are localized. A strong SMI32 immunoreactivity was observed in numerous neurons containing NFTs by double-immunolabeling with SMI32 and AT8. However, few neurons were labeled by AT8 and SMI32. These results suggest that the development of NFTs in some neurons results from some alteration in SMI32 expression, but does not account for all, particularly, early NFT-related changes. Also, there is a clear correlation of NFTs with selective population of pyramidal neurons in the temporal cortical areas and these pyramidal cells are specifically prone to formation of paired helical filaments. Furthermore, these pyramidal neurons might represent a significant portion of the neurons of origin of long corticocortical connection, and consequently contribute to the destruction of memory-related input to the hippocampal formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. ramasamy-thangavel@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thangavel
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sahu
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Van Hoesen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaheer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012016:Reference Values; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; D016875:tau Proteins