Localization of amyloidogenic proteins and sulfated glycosaminoglycans in nontransmissible and transmissible cerebral amyloidoses.

We report the localization of amyloid beta-protein and sulfated glycosaminoglycans in senile plaques and vascular amyloid deposits in brain tissues from patients with Down's syndrome and Alzheimer's disease, and in neurofibrillary tangles of these diseases and those of Guamanian parkinsonism-dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We also report the immunolocalization of scrapie amyloid in amyloid plaques containing glycosaminoglycans in kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and Gerstmann-Sträussler's syndrome. Thus, amyloidogenic proteins and sulfated glycosaminoglycans may be copolymerized in amyloid deposits in the nontransmissible and transmissible cerebral amyloidoses.