TAR-DNA binding protein 43 in Pick disease

J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2008 Jan;67(1):62-7. doi: 10.1097/nen.0b013e3181609361.

Abstract

Pick disease (PiD) is a frontotemporal dementia characterized by frontal and temporal atrophy, neuronal loss, gliosis, ballooned neurons that are positive for alpha-B crystallin and neurofilament, and the presence of tau- and ubiquitin-positive Pick bodies. TAR-DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43) has been found to be a component of ubiquitinated inclusions in other neurodegenerative diseases, including frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitinated inclusions and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Fifteen cases of PiD were examined using immunohistochemical methods, and 5 cases with both Pick bodies and smaller intracytoplasmic inclusions that showed staining for ubiquitin, tau, and TDP-43 were observed. The presence of TDP-43 inclusions in PiD suggests that TDP-43 accumulation may be an important component of many neurodegenerative diseases, and that its presence in only some cases of PiD may indicate different pathways of disease development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Brain / pathology
  • Case-Control Studies
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intranuclear Inclusion Bodies / metabolism
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Neurons / pathology
  • Pick Disease of the Brain / metabolism*
  • Pick Disease of the Brain / pathology
  • Ubiquitin / metabolism
  • tau Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Ubiquitin
  • tau Proteins