Distribution of PSA-NCAM in normal, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease human brain.
Polysialated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) is a membrane bound glycoprotein widely expressed during nervous system development. While commonly described in the neurogenic niches of the adult human brain, there is limited evidence of its distribution in other brain regions. PSA-NCAM is an important regulator of cell-cell interactions and facilitates cell migration and plasticity. Recent evidence suggests these functions may be altered in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). This study provides a detailed description of the PSA-NCAM distribution throughout the human brain and quantitatively compares the staining load in cortical regions and sub-cortical structures between the control, AD and PD brain. Our results provide evidence of widespread, yet specific, PSA-NCAM expression throughout the human brain including regions devoid of PSA-NCAM in the rodent brain such as the caudate nucleus (CN) and cerebellum (CB). We also detected a significant reduction in PSA-NCAM load in the entorhinal cortex (EC) of cases that was inversely correlated with hyperphosphorylated tau load. These results demonstrate that PSA-NCAM-mediated structural plasticity may not be limited to neurogenic niches and is conserved in the aged brain. We also provide evidence that PSA-NCAM is reduced in the EC, a region severely affected by AD pathology.
Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: h.murray@auckland.ac.nz.
Helen C
HC
Murray
Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: vicky.low@gen.mpg.de.
Victoria F
VF
Low
Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: m.swanson@auckland.ac.nz.
Molly E V
ME
Swanson
Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: v.dieriks@auckland.ac.nz.
Birger V
BV
Dieriks
Department of Anatomical Pathology, LabPlus, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: ClintonT@adhb.govt.nz.
Clinton
C
Turner
Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: rlm.faull@auckland.ac.nz.
Richard L M
RL
Faull
Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: m.curtis@auckland.ac.nz.
Maurice A
MA
Curtis
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*
D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1; D012794:Sialic Acids; C103469:polysialyl neural cell adhesion molecule
Alzheimer’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; neural cell adhesion molecule; plasticity; polysialic acid; tau