SP-40,40 is a constituent of Alzheimer's amyloid

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), serum and seminal plasma contain a small amount of SP-40,40, a modulatory protein of the human complement system. The SP-40,40 in each body fluid was different in molecular size on SDS-PAGE, and glioblastoma cells, hepatoma cells and testicular tumor cells produced SP-40,40, while neuroblastoma cells did not. Therefore, it was estimated that CSF SP-40,40 originated in glia cells, serum SP-40,40 in liver cells and seminal plasma SP-40,40 in testicular cells. SP-40,40 concentrations in CSF of the patients with Alzheimer's disease and the patients with cerebral tumor were higher than those of normal donors. beta-Amyloid deposits in the brains of the patients with Alzheimer's disease were stained with an anti-SP-40,40 monoclonal antibody (mAb) but not with an anti-S-protein mAb, while cellular processes around beta-amyloid were stained with an anti-S-protein mAb but not with an anti-SP-40,40 mAb. Therefore, beta-amyloid contained SP-40,40 in a form different from that in the soluble membrane attack complex (SMAC, SC5b-9) of the complement, which contains S-protein as well as SP-40,40.