Appearance of paired nucleated, Tau-positive glia in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy brain tissue.

Many Tau-positive glia with paired nuclei and astrocyte type morphology were identified in three brains from patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). They were positive by Bielschowsky's and Bodian's silver staining as well as by immunostaining with Tau-2, Alz-50, anti-GFAP and anti-paired helical filament antibodies, but not with anti-ubiquitin antibody. They were predominantly localized in the striatum, thalamus and frontal cortex but were not seen in white matter and were not plentiful in areas of heavy neuronal degeneration. Electron microscopy clearly showed the nuclear pairing and localized the Tau protein to bundles suggestive of microtubules in the cytoplasm and proximal processes. Such glial cells were rarely seen in cases of other neurodegenerative diseases or neurologically normal controls. These data suggest that there is an unusual gliotic reaction in PSP in brain areas which show relatively little neuronal loss.