Ubiquitin immunocytochemistry in human spongiform encephalopathies

The distribution of ubiquitin was studied by immunocytochemistry in eight cases of human spongiform encephalopathy and compared with the findings in seven age- and sex-matched cases of Alzheimer's disease and six non-demented control cases. The results were also compared with the immunocytochemical distribution of prion protein and the lysosomal aspartic protease cathepsin D. In the human spongiform encephalopathies, ubiquitin immunoreactivity was found in a punctate distribution at the periphery of prion protein amyloid plaques and in a finely granular pattern in the neuropil around and within areas of spongiform change. Cortical nerve cells contained scanty ubiquitinated dot-like inclusions, and occasional microglia around the areas of spongiform change also gave a positive staining reaction for ubiquitin, as did multiple irregular thread-like structures in the neuropil and white matter. The ubiquitin-containing structures at the plaque periphery in human spongiform encephalopathies resemble the neuritic processes at the periphery of the senile plaque in Alzheimer's disease. The granular positivity for ubiquitin associated with areas of spongiform change closely resembles the pattern of immunostaining seen with the antibodies to the prion protein and cathepsin D, consistent with the reported accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and prion protein in lysosomes in the murine scrapie model. Further studies are required to investigate the role of lysosomes in this group of disorders, and to study the localization of other cell stress proteins and prion protein in spongiform encephalopathies.