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Tau phosphoepitopes threonine 231 and 181 as promising biological markers of Alzheimer's disease

Abnormal hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau and its incorporation into neurofibrillary tangles are major hallmarks of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using monoclonal antibodies, different tau phosphoepitopes can be sensitively detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A significant elevation in the levels of tau protein phosphorylated at threonine 231 (p-tau231) and threonine 181 (p-tau181) has been recently observed in CSF (Hampel H et al., Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 2004 ; 61:95-102 ; de Leon MJ et al., J. Intern. Med. 2004 ; 256:205-223). CSF levels of p-tau231 were measured using a specific antibody against the 231 tau phosphoepitope by Western blot (using an antibody provided by Peter Davies, New York, USA) in a group of 15 individuals. CSF levels of p-tau181 were measured by ELISA (Innotest Phospho-Tau (181P), Innogenetics, Ghent, Belgium) in a group of 63 individuals. Both study groups were composed of patients with a clinical diagnosis of AD, with possible AD, and nondemented controls. CSF levels of p-tau231 and p-tau181 were significantly elevated in patients with definitive AD compared to nondemented controls. Our results mostly confirmed earlier findings that p-tau231 and p-tau181 may be useful biological markers of AD, which could improve early detection and tracking disease progression.

tau protein ; phosphorylation ; cerebrospinal fluid ; Alzheimer's disease

Časopis je citiran u Neuroscience Citation index i EMBASE/Excerpta Medica.