Glial Tau Pathology in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Their Nature and Comparison with Neuronal Tangles

Tau-positive inclusions that occur in glial cells are called glial fibrillary tangles or, more simply, glial tangles. These include tuft-shaped astrocytes, thorn-shaped astrocytes, coiled bodies, and argyrophilic threads. The latter two structures occur in oligodendroglia. The tau protein in glial t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neurobiology of aging 1998, Vol.19 (1), p.S85-S91
Main Authors: Ikeda, K., Akiyama, H., Arai, T., Nishimura, T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Astrocytes - metabolism
Astrocytes - ultrastructure
Biological and medical sciences
Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases
Glial tangles
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Inclusion Bodies - ultrastructure
Medical sciences
Microscopy, Electron
Middle Aged
Neurodegenerative Diseases - metabolism
Neurodegenerative Diseases - pathology
Neurofibrillary tangles
Neurofibrillary Tangles - metabolism
Neurofibrillary Tangles - pathology
Neuroglia - pathology
Neuroglia - ultrastructure
Neurology
Pre-tangles
tau Proteins - metabolism
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Summary:Tau-positive inclusions that occur in glial cells are called glial fibrillary tangles or, more simply, glial tangles. These include tuft-shaped astrocytes, thorn-shaped astrocytes, coiled bodies, and argyrophilic threads. The latter two structures occur in oligodendroglia. The tau protein in glial tangles is hyperphosphorylated and has similar immunohistochemical profiles to that in neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) except that there are no epitopes derived from alternatively spliced exon 2 and 3. In contrast to NFTs, glial tangles rarely show solid filaments. Such NFT-associated molecules as ubiquitin, apolipoprotein E, alpha1-antichymotrypsin, and heparan sulfate are all absent from glial tangles. These characteristics suggest that glial tangles resemble the pre-tangles that occur in neurons and are thought to represent an early stage of NFTs. Tau pathology in neurodegenerative diseases takes heterogenous forms.
ISSN:0197-4580
1558-1497
DOI:10.1016/S0197-4580(98)00034-7