title: Increased expression of TDP-43 in the skin of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Transactivation-responsive DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) was identified as a major component of the ubiquitin-positive inclusions in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, there has been no study of TDP-43 in ALS skin. The present study investigates TDP-43 in ALS skin.
  
  
  METHODS
  We made a quantitative immunohistochemical study of the expression of TDP-43 in the skin from 15 patients with ALS and 15 control subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of TDP-43-positive (TDP-43+) cells in the epidermis in ALS patients was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than in controls. There was a significant positive relationship (r = 0.62, P < 0.02) between the proportion and duration of illness in ALS patients. The optical density of TDP-43+ cells in the epidermis in ALS patients is markedly stronger (P < 0.001) than in controls. There was a significant positive relation (r = 0.72, P < 0.01) between the immunoreactivity and duration of illness in ALS patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that changes of TDP-43 in ALS skin are likely to be related to the disease process and that metabolic alterations of TDP-43 may take place in the skin of patients with ALS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Teikyo University Chiba Medical Center, Ichihara, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamano
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yasui
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ono
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004817:Epidermis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins