Colocalization of ODC 和 Amyloid Plaques in AD/DS Patients

聚胺类, 和 their rate limiting enzyme ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), are crucial for many functions in the central nervous system but levels decrease with age. In neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), polyamine levels begin to increase again. Yet, there are still many unanswered questions surrounding polyamine’s possible role in AD. Polyamine levels are especially heightened in people with Down Syndrome (DS), who also have an extra copy of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), 和 tend to get AD far earlier than the general population.

We aim to see if there is colocalization between amyloid plaques 和 ODC in patients with AD 和 DS, in order to see if there is a relationship between the two, 和 if this could be a pathway of neurotoxicity in AD that underlies its pathogenesis. This will be done through immunofluorescence staining of paraffin-embedded human hippocampal tissue from control, AD, 和 AD/DS patients for ODC, β淀粉样蛋白, 和 collagen for vascularity. Preliminary results indicate some colocalization of ODC 和 amyloid plaques that tend to be located near vascularity, 和 that this colocalization is increased in those with DS 和 AD. This suggests that there is a relationship between ODC 和 amyloid plaques, although the directionality is unknown, 和 that this could indicate an underlying pathway contributing to AD pathogenesis.