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Preferential 3‐repeat tau staining of extracellular neurofibrillary tangles in Down syndrome with Alzheimer type changes
Author(s) -
Enstice Kathleen M.,
Hladik Christa L.,
Shang Ping,
White Charles L.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a20
Subject(s) - senile plaques , tau protein , neurofibrillary tangle , pathology , entorhinal cortex , alzheimer's disease , tangle , neuropathology , cortex (anatomy) , autopsy , population , hippocampus , medicine , biology , neuroscience , disease , mathematics , pure mathematics , environmental health
Alzheimer disease‐type tau pathology is common in the brains of patients with Down syndrome (DS) and occurs at an earlier age than in the general population. These tau‐containing lesions have not been fully characterized. We set out to determine if a characteristic pattern for 3‐repeat (3R) and 4‐repeat (4R) tau isoforms of phosphorylated tau protein exists in neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) of the Alzheimer type seen in DS. Sections of hippocampus and entorhinal cortex from autopsy brains of 19 DS patients – 8 under age 40 and 11 over age 40 (age range 3 months to 66 years) – were stained with monoclonal antibodies to 3R tau (RD3) and 4R tau (RD4). NFT were present in all patients over age 40. Intracellular NFT stained with 3R and 4R antibodies. Extracellular (ghost) NFT showed preferential 3R immunoreactivity with uniform staining of lesser intensity than intracellular NFT. The preferential 3R staining of ghost NFT in DS brains is similar to that recently reported in Alzheimer disease and tangle predominant senile dementia. Supported in part by NIH ADC grant AG12300, the Dallas Crystal Charity Ball, the Winspear Family Center for Research on the Neuropathology of Alzheimer Disease, and the McCune Foundation .