This Article Order Full text via Infotrieve Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pappolla, M. A. Articles by Saran, B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pappolla, M. A. Articles by Saran, B.

American Journal of Pathology, Vol 135, 585-591, Copyright © 1989 by American Society for Investigative Pathology

REGULAR ARTICLES

The "normal" brain. "Abnormal" ubiquitinilated deposits highlight an age-related protein change

MA Pappolla, R Omar and B Saran
Department of Pathology, Veterans Administration Hospital, Montrose, New York.

Known morphologic changes that characterize "normal" brain senescence are insufficient to explain the widespread, age-related decline of psychomotor functions. We report that the heavily ubiquitinilated deposits can be consistently detected by immunohistochemistry in the normal senescent brain. Immunostaining of hippocampal sections from aged brains with an anti-ubiquitin antibody was unrelated to neurofibrillary degeneration or senile plaque formation. In contrast, ubiquitin deposits were not detectable in brain sections from neurologically and neuropathologically normal young individuals who had died of nonneurological causes. This finding shows an unrecognized protein change in the normal aged brain.