Publication Date
Spring 1999
School
School of Health Sciences
Major
Biology: Cell and Molecular Biology
Disciplines
Biology | Medical Pathology
Recommended Citation
Isaacs, Gary, "Purification of 10-5A9 Antigen in Alzheimer's Disease" (1999). Senior Honors Theses. 779.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/779
Abstract
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that results in memory loss and reduced cognitive function. Characteristic lesions include senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Evidence for a previously unknown component, cockroach 10-5A9 antigen, within these lesions has recently been discovered. It is the purpose of this study to purify to 10-5A9 antigen for further analysis. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the antigen's presence in AD lesions and the Lewy bodies of Parkinson's disease. Although SDS-PAGE/Western blotting and immunoprecipitation techniques proved ineffective, the former indicated antigen presence in the particulate matter of AD brain homogenates. Negative results from ammonium sulfate experiments also correlated the belief that the antigen was present in the particulate matter. Since chromatographic techniques could not be incorporated due to the absence of an assay, direct immunostaining of AD particulate matter concluded the study. These results suggest that the 10-5A9 antigen is tightly associated with some constituent(s) of AD lesions that pellets as low-speed centrifugation. Immunostaining of purified plaque cores, known to reside within the particulate matter fraction, corroborated these conclusions.
