Effects of lipofuscin on in situ hybridization in human neuronal tissue

Lipofuscin and Abeta42 exhibit distinct distribution patterns in normal and Alzheimer's disease brains

Our recent study has provided evidence that Abeta42, a 42 amino acid fragment of the amyloid precursor protein, accumulates intracellularly in vulnerable neurons. This study appears to show that neurons lyse and form dense-core amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) entorhinal cortex. Previous studies have suggested that intracellular Abeta42 co-localizes with lipofuscin in neurons and those increased levels of lipofuscin and Abeta42 are associated with AD. Other studies have questioned this relationship and suggested that beta-amyloid and lipofuscin are not co-localized and that their levels are independent of one another in AD and age-matched control tissues. In an effort to resolve this controversy, we investigated the relative spatial relationship of intracellular Abeta42 and lipofuscin in AD brains tissue using a novel combined immunohistochemical:histochemical staining protocol. Our results show separate and distinct localization patterns of Abeta42 and lipofuscin in neurons and amyloid plaques.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 gene expression and reactivation of latent infection in the central nervous system

Restricted gene expression takes place during latent infection of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in the human peripheral nervous system and has been linked with viral reactivation. The state of HSV-1 gene expression in the central nervous system (CNS) during latency is unclear and we, therefore, examined gene expression in the brainstem of experimental mice and normal humans. Only part of the transcription pattern present during latent infection in peripheral sensory ganglia (PSG) was identified in the human brainstem by in situ hybridization and Northern blot analysis for HSV-1-specific transcripts. Instead of three HSV-1 latency-associated transcripts (LATs) present in PSG and demonstrated by Northern blot analysis, only one was identified in mouse brainstem and none was detected in human brainstem. These findings might be attributed to the relatively low amounts of HSV-1-specific latency-associated RNAs in brainstem tissue. Combined with our inability to reactivate HSV-1 from explanted mouse brainstem, these findings suggest that tissue levels of latency-associated gene expression play a role in HSV-1 reactivation and have relevance to the very low incidence of HSV-1-induced CNS disease compared with peripheral mucocutaneous disease.