title: Immununochemical Markers of the Amyloid Cascade in the Hippocampus in Motor Neuron Diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several findings suggest that the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the amyloid cascade may play a role in motor neuron disease (MND).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Considering that dementia is one of the most frequent non-motor symptoms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and that hippocampus is one of the brain areas with greater presence of amyloid-related changes in neurodegenerative diseases, our aim was to analyze the molecular markers of the amyloid cascade of APP in pathology studies of the hippocampus of autopsied patients with ALS and ALS-frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We included nine patients with MND and four controls. Immunohistochemical studies and confocal microscopy were used to analyze the expression of APP, TDP-43, pho-TDP-43, Aβ, APP intracellular cytoplasmatic domain (AICD) peptide, Fe65 protein, and pho-TAU in the hippocampus of seven patients with ALS, two patients with ALS-FTD, and four controls. These findings were correlated with clinical data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients displayed increased expression of APP and Aβ peptide. The latter was correlated with cytoplasmic pho-TDP-43 expression. We also found decreased Fe65 expression. A parallel increase in AICD expression was not found. Patients showed increased expression of pho-TAU in the hippocampus. Findings were similar in patients with ALS and those with ALS-FTD, though more marked in the latter group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Post-mortem analyses showed that the amyloid cascade is activated in the hippocampus of patients with MND and correlated with cytoplasmic pho-TDP-43 expression. The number of intracellular or extracellular aggregates of Aβ peptides was not significant.
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Ulises
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gómez-Pinedo
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Rocio N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Villar-Quiles
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Galán
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Matías-Guiu
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Maria S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Benito-Martin
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guerrero-Sola
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moreno-Ramos
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Neuroscience Institute, IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matías-Guiu
keywords: AICD peptide; Aβ peptide; Fe65 protein; TAU protein; TDP-43; amyloid precursor protein; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; frontotemporal dementia