Immunohistochemical study of A2B5-positive ganglioside in postmortem human brain tissue of Alzheimer disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, progressive supranuclear palsy and control cases.

Localization of gangliosides positively stained by the monoclonal antibody A2B5 was investigated in postmortem brain tissue of Alzheimer disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and control cases. In control cases, A2B5-staining was granular, appearing in selective neuronal populations. In the neocortex, the A2B5-positive neurons were distributed mainly in deep cortical layers. In the cerebellum, A2B5-positive structures were detected in processes extending from the Purkinje cell layer into the molecular layer. In Alzheimer cases, many neurofibrillary tangles, neuropil threads and dystrophic neurites were strongly A2B5-positive. In addition, aggregations of A2B5-positive granules were detected in some neurons lacking neurofibrillary tangles. Alterations of A2B5-positive gangliosides were also detected in ALS and PSP cases. In ALS cases, A2B5-positive granules were aggregated in Betz cells of the precentral gyrus. In PSP cases, globose-type neurofibrillary tangles were also strongly A2B5-positive. The results indicate that A2B5-positive gangliosides are widely but selectively distributed in human brain and may be involved in several neuropathological processes.