Complement C1 inhibitor is produced by brain tissue and is cleaved in Alzheimer disease

C1 inhibitor was identified in human brain tissue by Western blotting and by immunohistochemistry using multiple antibodies to the native protein. The presence of C1 inhibitor mRNA was identified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis of brain mRNA extracts. The mRNA was also detected in cultured postmortem human microglia and in the IMR-32 human neuroblastoma cell line. Immunohistochemically, the native protein was detected in residual serum of capillaries and pyramidal neurons of both control and Alzheimer disease cases, as well as in occasional senile plaques of Alzheimer tissue. The reacted protein was detected on dystrophic neurites and neuropil threads in Alzheimer tissue by 4C3 monoclonal antibody, which recognizes a neoepitope following suicide inhibition. These data indicate that C1 inhibitor, a regulatory molecule controlling multiple inflammatory proteolytic cascades, is produced in normal brain. In Alzheimer disease, C1 inhibitor undergoes a prominent reaction in abnormal neuronal processes, such as dystrophic neurites and neuropil threads.