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Characterization of Alzheimer paired helical filaments by electron microscopy
Author(s) -
Hernández Félix,
Engel Tobias,
GómezRamos Alberto,
Pérez Mar,
Avila Jesús
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.20194
Subject(s) - immunoelectron microscopy , electron microscope , protein filament , microscopy , ultrastructure , cryo electron microscopy , intermediate filament , biophysics , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , chemistry , neuroscience , cytoskeleton , medicine , cell , anatomy , biochemistry , physics , immunohistochemistry , optics
We show how electron microscopy can be used to answer several critical issues in neurodegenerative disorders that course with the formation of aberrant filamentous structures. Thus, electron microscopy is a useful technique to study in vitro assembly of pathogenic proteins, to map the regions involved in filament formation, as well as to detect by immunoelectron microscopy which proteins bind to the filaments. Furthermore, electron microscopy is the main technique used to discover if an animal model develops fibrillar pathology and if those filaments are similar to those found in human patients. This review focuses on Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies, although similar studies have been done with other neurodegenerative disorders as, for example, Huntington's disease. Microsc. Res. Tech. 67:121–125, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.