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Pick's disease: hyperphosphorylated tau protein segregates to the somatoaxonal compartment
Probst A, Tolnay M, Langui D, Goedert M, Spillantini MG.. Acta neuropathologica, 1996-12-01
Topic: Disease mechanisms in lab and animal studies
Pick bodies and ballooned cells of Pick's disease and the neurofibrillary lesions of Alzheimer's disease are characterized by the presence of hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated protein tau. Little is known about the mechanisms underlying tau hyperphosphorylation in Pick's disease and the distribution of abnormal tau in affected neurons. We have used a panel of phosphorylation-dependent (AT270, AT8, AT180, 12E8, PHF-1, AT10 and Tau-1) and phosphorylation-independent anti-tau antibodies (N-tau 5 and 134) to stain brain tissue sections from subjects with Pick's disease and Alzheimer's disease. These antibodies labeled Pick bodies and neurofibrillary lesions in a similar way, with the exception of antibody 12E8, which stained a subset of neurofibrillary tangles, but no Pick bodies. Moreover, abundant AT8- and PHF-1-positive neuritic profiles were observed in cortical areas rich in Pick bodies, even in the complete absence of neurofibrillary lesions. Unlike the Gallyas-positive neuropil threads of Alzheimer's disease, which were of variable diameter and covered by spiny appendages, neuritic profiles of Pick's disease showed a regular diameter, appeared smooth and were Gallyas-negative. In contrast to Alzheimer's disease, dendritic branches of neurons containing Pick bodies were not labeled by anti-tau antibodies. In the hippocampus, numerous tau-positive axon terminals were found along dendrites of the polymorphic layer of the dentate gyrus. Our results indicate that tau proteins in Pick's disease and Alzheimer's disease share similar phosphorylated residues, with the exception of serine 262, which is phosphorylated in Alzheimer tangles but not in Pick bodies or neuritic profiles. Furthermore, we show that hyperphosphorylated tau segregates to different neuronal compartments in the two diseases, with a somatoaxonal distribution in Pick's disease and a somatodendritic distribution in Alzheimer's disease.
Key findings
- Our results indicate that tau proteins in Pick's disease and Alzheimer's disease share similar phosphorylated residues, with the exception of serine 262, which is phosphorylated in Alzheimer tangles but not in Pick bodies or neuritic profiles.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Acta neuropathologica) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1996 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 8960316) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 23 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
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APA 7th
Probst, A., Tolnay, M., Langui, D., Goedert, M., & Spillantini, M. G. (1996). Pick's disease: hyperphosphorylated tau protein segregates to the somatoaxonal compartment. Acta neuropathologica. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004010050565
Vancouver
Probst A, Tolnay M, Langui D, Goedert M, Spillantini MG. Pick's disease: hyperphosphorylated tau protein segregates to the somatoaxonal compartment. Acta neuropathologica. 1996. doi:10.1007/s004010050565. PMID: 8960316.
BibTeX
@article{probst1996-8960316,
author = {Probst, A. and Tolnay, M. and Langui, D. and Goedert, M. and Spillantini, M. G.},
title = {{Pick's disease: hyperphosphorylated tau protein segregates to the somatoaxonal compartment}},
journal = {Acta neuropathologica},
year = {1996},
doi = {10.1007/s004010050565},
pmid = {8960316},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s004010050565}
}
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