title: Synchrotron FTIR reveals lipid around and within amyloid plaques in transgenic mice and Alzheimer's disease brain.
abstract: While the basis of neuronal degeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) continues to be debated, the amyloid cascade hypothesis remains central. Amyloid plaques are a required pathological marker for post mortem diagnosis, and Aβ peptide is regarded by most as a critical trigger at the very least. We present spectrochemical image analysis of brain tissue sections obtained with the mid-infrared beamline IRENI (InfraRed ENvironmental Imaging, Synchrotron Radiation Center, U Wisconsin-Madison), where the pixel resolution of 0.54 × 0.54 µm(2) permits analysis at sub-cellular dimensions. Spectrochemical images of dense core plaque found in hippocampus and cortex sections of two transgenic mouse models of AD (TgCRND8 and 3×Tg) are compared with plaque images from a 91 year old apoE43 human AD case. Spectral analysis was done in conjunction with histochemical stains of serial sections. A lipid membrane-like spectral signature surrounded and infiltrated the dense core plaques in all cases. Remarkable compositional similarities in early stage plaques suggest similar routes to plaque formation, regardless of genetic predisposition or mammalian origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Manitoba, 360 Parker Building,144 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Kathleen.Gough@ad.umanitoba.ca
authors.forename: Catherine R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rak
authors.forename: Jillian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Unger
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Platt
authors.forename: Benedict C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Albensi
authors.forename: Carol J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hirschmugl
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Gough
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D001344:Autopsy; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000379:methods*; D017356:Synchrotrons
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids