Quantifying the accretion of hyperphosphorylated tau in the locus coeruleus and dorsal raphe nucleus: the pathological building blocks of early Alzheimer's disease.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

Hyperphosphorylated tau neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions (ht-NCI) are the best protein correlate of clinical decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Qualitative evidence identifies ht-NCI accumulating in the isodendritic core before the entorhinal cortex. Here, we used unbiased stereology to quantify ht-NCI burden in the locus coeruleus (LC) and dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), aiming to characterize the impact of AD pathology in these nuclei with a focus on early stages.

Methods

We utilized unbiased stereology in a sample of 48 well-characterized subjects enriched for controls and early AD stages. ht-NCI counts were estimated in 60-μm-thick sections immunostained for p-tau throughout LC and DRN. Data were integrated with unbiased estimates of LC and DRN neuronal population for

SUBMITTER: Ehrenberg AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5642282 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature