Plasma phosphorylated-TDP-43 protein levels correlate with brain pathology in frontotemporal lobar degeneration

Penelope G. Foulds, Yvonne Davidson, Manjari Mishra, David J. Hobson, Kirsty M. Humphreys, Mark Taylor, Nancy Johnson, Sandra Weintraub, Haruhiko Akiyama, Tetsuaki Arai, Masato Hasegawa, Eileen H. Bigio, Fiona E. Benson, David Allsop, David M A Mann

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In the present study, we have correlated plasma TDP-43 levels, as measured by ELISA, with the presence of TDP-43 pathological changes in the brains of 28 patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) (14 with FTLD-TDP and 14 with FTLD-tau) and 24 patients with pathologically confirmed AD (8 with, and 16 without, TDP-43 pathological changes). Western blotting revealed full-length TDP-43, including a phosphorylated form, and a phosphorylated C-terminal fragment, in all samples examined. Both ELISA and immunohistochemistry were performed using phospho-dependent and phospho-independent TDP-43 antibodies for detection of phosphorylated and total TDP-43, respectively. Over all 52 cases, plasma levels of TDP-43, and scores of brain TDP-43 pathology, determined using TDP-43 phospho-dependent antibody correlated with the equivalent measure determined using the TDP phospho-independent antibody. In FTLD, but not AD, TDP-43 plasma levels correlated significantly with the pathology score when using the TDP-43 phospho-dependent antibody, but a similar correlation was not seen in either FTLD or AD using the TDP-43 phospho-independent antibody. With the TDP-43 phospho-independent antibody, there were no significant differences in median plasma TDP-43 levels between FTLD, or AD, patients with or without TDP-43 pathology. Using TDP-43 phospho-dependent antibody, median plasma TDP-43 levels were greater in patients with, than in those without, TDP-43 pathology for FTLD patients, though not significantly so, but not for AD patients. Present assays for TDP-43 do not differentiate between FTLD, or AD, patients with or without TDP-43 pathological changes in their brains. However, the levels of phosphorylated TDP-43 in plasma do correlate with the extent of TDP-43 brain pathology in FTLD, and therefore might be a useful surrogate marker for tracking changes in TDP-43 brain pathology during the course of this disease. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)647-658
    Number of pages11
    JournalActa Neuropathologica
    Volume118
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2009

    Keywords

    • Alzheimer's disease
    • ELISA
    • Frontotemporal lobar degeneration
    • Plasma
    • TDP-43

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