Localization of HtrA2/Omi immunoreactivity in brains affected by Alzheimer's disease

Neuroreport. 2010 Dec 8;21(17):1121-5. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e328340a731.

Abstract

HtrA2/Omi is a mitochondrial serine protease that promotes apoptotic processes, and this study investigated whether the abnormal immunoexpression of HtrA2/Omi occurs in patients with Alzheimer's disease. We prepared autopsied brains from seven control individuals and seven patients with Alzheimer's disease, and then carried out immunohistochemical studies on HtrA2/Omi using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections from all of these cases. In the cerebral cortex and hippocampus from the cases of Alzheimer's disease, densely accumulated HtrA2/Omi immunoreactivity was scattered, both intracellularly and extracellularly. Double immunofluorescence analyses showed the partial localization of HtrA2/Omi immunoreactivity in amyloid β-peptide-immunopositive senile plaques and phosphorylated τ-immunopositive neurofibrillary tangles. These results suggest that HtrA2/Omi may be partially associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / enzymology*
  • Alzheimer Disease / pathology*
  • Biomarkers / metabolism
  • Brain Chemistry* / immunology
  • Cerebral Cortex / enzymology
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology
  • Extracellular Space / enzymology
  • Female
  • High-Temperature Requirement A Serine Peptidase 2
  • Hippocampus / enzymology
  • Hippocampus / pathology
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Intracellular Space / enzymology
  • Male
  • Mitochondrial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Nerve Degeneration / enzymology
  • Nerve Degeneration / pathology
  • Serine Endopeptidases / metabolism*

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Mitochondrial Proteins
  • Serine Endopeptidases
  • HTRA2 protein, human
  • High-Temperature Requirement A Serine Peptidase 2