Abstract
We investigated the cleavage of caspase-3, a marker of apoptosis, in the medial temporal lobe of older subjects with minimal cognitive deficits and low CERAD/intermediate Braak scores, that is, clinicopathological descriptors of early Alzheimer's disease (AD). The activation of caspase-3 was studied with immunoprecipitation-mass spectroscopy and immunocytochemistry, including colocalization with paired helical filaments in the neuropil and perikarya. We found that caspase-3 is activated in the parahippocampal gyrus in subjects with mild AD and that this event is silenced in more advanced illness. Caspase-3 immunoreactivity has a tangle-like appearance that coevolves with paired helical filament pathology within neurons. We propose that activation of apoptosis may occur very early in the medial temporal lobe in AD.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 393-398 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Annals of neurology |
Volume | 54 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1 2003 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology