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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-12-14
pubmed:abstractText
Neurofilaments (NFs) are integral constituents of the neuron playing a major role in brain development, maintenance, regeneration and the pattern of expression for NFs suggests their contribution to plasticity of the neuronal cytoskeleton and creating and maintaining neuronal architecture. Using immune-histochemical techniques the altered expression of NFs in Down syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been already published but as no corresponding systematic immune-chemical study has been reported yet, we decided to determine proteins levels of three NFs in several brain regions of DS and AD brain. We evaluated immunoreactive NF-H, NF-M and NF-L levels using Western blotting in brain regions temporal, occipital cortex and thalamus of patients with DS (n = 9), AD (n = 9) and controls (n = 12). We found significantly increased NF-H in temporal cortex (controls: means 0.74+/-0.39 SD; DS: means 3.01+/-2.18 SD) of DS patients and a significant decrease of NF-L in occipital cortex of DS and AD patients (controls: means 1.19+/-0.86 SD; DS: means 0.35+/-0.20; AD: 0.20+/-0.11 SD). We propose that the increase of NF-H in temporal cortex of DS brain is due to neuritic sprouting as observed in immune-histochemical studies. The increase may not be caused by the known accumulation of NFs in plaques, tangles or Lewy bodies due to our solubilization protocol. The decrease of NF-L in occipital cortex of DS and AD patients may well be reflecting neuronal loss. Altogether, however, we suggest that NFs are not reliable markers for neuronal death, a hallmark of both neurodegenerative diseases, in DS or AD. The increase of NF-H in DS or the decrease of NF-L in DS and AD leaves the other NFs unchanged, which points to dysregulation in DS and AD and raises the question of impaired structural assembly of neurofilaments.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0939-4451
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
21
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
293-301
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Neurofilament proteins NF-L, NF-M and NF-H in brain of patients with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Pediatrics, University of Vienna, Austria.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't