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The American Journal of Pathology logoLink to The American Journal of Pathology
. 1993 Dec;143(6):1586–1593.

Immunocytochemical evidence that the beta-protein precursor is an integral component of neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's disease.

G Perry 1, P L Richey 1, S L Siedlak 1, M A Smith 1, P Mulvihill 1, D A DeWitt 1, J Barnett 1, B D Greenberg 1, R N Kalaria 1
PMCID: PMC1887275  PMID: 7504885

Abstract

Amyloid beta (A beta) immunoreactivity has been demonstrated in all extracellular neurofibrillary tangles (E-NFT) and most intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (I-NFT). We undertook this immunocytochemical study to understand the relationship between A beta immunoreactivity localized in NFT and beta-protein precursor (beta PP). We found epitopes of amino-, mid-, and carboxyl-terminal domains of beta PP in I-NFT and the majority of E-NFT. NFT retained beta PP after ionic detergent extraction, demonstrating that beta PP is an integral component of NFT. Finding beta PP in regions of A beta immunoreactivity raises the possibility that beta PP or its fragments associate with amyloid, and that the stability of A beta is responsible for its dominance in amyloid deposits.

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Selected References

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