Summary
A study of Pick bodies (PBs) was performed using immunohistochemical, ultrastructural and immunoelectron microscopic techniques. Ultrastructurally, the PBs in the granular neurons of the dentate fascia of Ammon's horn were composed of randomly distributed straight fibrils (14.5±2.1 nm in diameter), intermingled with a few constricted fibrils. The constricted fibrils had a periodicity of 157±11 nm, and were 28.7±3.3 nm wide at their widest point midway between the constrictions and 15.3±3.2 nm wide at the point constriction. A few straight fibrils approximately 15 nm in diameter appeared to morphologically transform into fibrils with constrictions at approximately 160-nm intervals. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that the straight fibrils, the constricted fibrils, and the transitional form (straight fibrils linked with constricted fibrils) had the same immunoreactivity to anti-tau antiserum. The two different subtypes of Pick fibrils, i.e., the straight fibrils and the constricted fibrils, have interchangeable appearances and a common pathomechanism is suggested to underlie the formation of these two subtypes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Herzog W, Weber K (1978) Fractionation of brain microtubuleassociated proteins: isolation of two different proteins which stimulate tubulin polymerization in vitro. Eur J Biochem 92:1–8
Ihara Y, Nukina N, Miura R, Ogawara M (1986) Phosphorylated tau protein is integrated into paired helical filaments in Alzheimer's disease. J Biochem 99:1807–1810
Jervis GA (1971) Pick's disease. In: Minckler J (ed) Pathology of the nervous system, vol 2, 1st edn. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 1395–1404
Joachim CL, Morris JH, Kosik KS, Selkoe DJ (1987) Tau antisera recognize neurofibrillary tangles in a range of neurodegenerative disorders. Ann Neurol 22:514–520
Kato S, Nakamura H, Otomo E (1989) Reappraisal of neurofibrillary tangles: immunohistochemical, ultrastructural, and immunoelectron microscopical studies. Acta Neuropathol 77:258–266
Kondo J, Honda T, Mori H, Hamada Y, Miura R, Ogawara M, Ihara Y (1988) The carboxyl third of tau is tightly bound to paired helical filaments. Neuron 1:827–834
Love S, Saitoh T, Quijada S, Cole GM, Terry RD (1988) Alz-50, ubiquitin and tau immunoreactivity of neurofibrillary tangles, Pick bodies and Lewy bodies. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 47:393–405
Munoz-Garcia D, Ludwin SK (1984) Classic and generalized variants of Pick's disease: a clinicopathological, ultrastructural, and immunocytochemical comparative study. Ann Neurol 16:467–480
Murayama S, Mori H, Ihara Y, Tomonaga M (1990) Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural studies of Pick's disease. Ann Neurol 27:394–405
Nukina N, Ihara Y (1986) One of the antigenic determinants of paired helical filaments is related to tau protein. J Biochem 99:1541–1544
Oyanagi S (1983) Ultrastructural comparison between Pick bodies and the neurofibrillary changes in Alzheimer's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy. In: Hirano A, Miyoshi K (eds) Neuropsychiatric disorders in the elderly. Igaku-shoin, Tokyo, pp 118–126
Perry G, Stewart D, Fridman R, Manetto V, Autilio-Gambetti L, Gambetti P (1987) Filaments of Pick's bodies contain altered cytoskeletal elements. Am J Pathol 127:559–568
Pick A (1892) Über die Beziehungen der senilen Hirnatrophie zur Aphasie. Prag Med Wochenschr 17:165–167
Pick A (1906) Über einen weiteren Symptomenkomplex im Rahmen der Dementia senilis, bedingt durch umschriebene stärkere Hirnatrophie (gemischte Apraxie). Monatsschr Psychiatr Neurol 19:97–108
Probst A, Anderton BH, Ulrich J, Kohler R, Kahn J, Heitz PU (1983) Pick's disease: an immunocytochemical study of neuronal changes. Monoclonal antibodies show that Pick bodies share antigenic determinants with neurofibrillary tangles and neurofilaments. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 60:175–182
Rasool CG, Selkoe DJ (1985) Sharing of specific antigens by degenerating neurons in Pick's disease and Alzheimer's disease. N Engl J Med 312:700–705
Seitelberger F, Gross H, Pilz P (1983) Pick's disease: a neuropathologic study. In: Hirano A, Miyoshi K (eds) Neuropsychiatric disorders in the elderly. Igaku-shoin, Tokyo, pp 87–117
Shibayama H, Kitoh J, Marui Y, Kobayashi H, Iwase S, Kayukawa Y (1983) An unusual case of Pick's disease. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 59:79–87
Sparkman DR, Johnson SA, Hammon KM, Allison PM, White CL III (1987) Isolation of the insoluble straight fibrils of Pick's disease. J Neurol Sci 80:173–184
Takauchi S, Hosomi M, Marasigan S, Sato M, Hayashi S, Miyoshi K (1984) An ultrastructural study of Pick bodies. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 64:344–348
Tomlinson BE, Corsellis JAN (1984) Ageing and the dementias. In: Adams JH, Corsellis JAN, Duchen LW (eds) Greenfield's neuropathology, 4th edn. Edward Arnold, London, pp 987–992
Wisniewski HM (1981) Pick disease. Handb Clin Neurol 42:285–286
Yoshimura N (1988) Olfactory bulb involvement in Pick's disease. Acta Neuropathol 77:202–205
Yoshimura N (1989) Topography of Pick body distribution in Pick's disease: a contribution to understanding the relationship between Pick's and Alzheimer's diseases. Clin Neuropathol 8:1–6
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kato, S., Nakamura, H. Presence of two different fibril subtypes in the Pick body: an immunoelectron microscopic study. Acta Neuropathol 81, 125–129 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334500
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334500