Corpora Amylacea in Aging and Alzheimer’s Brain: Immunolocalization of Chondroitin Sulfate and Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans

TLDR: Use of a monoclonal antibody to the glycosaminoglycan moiety of a keratan sulfate proteoglycan demonstrated (at the light microscopic level) that CA contains antigenic sites for keratan oxide proteoglycans.

Abstract: Corpora amylacea (CA) are spherical bodies, varying in diameter (10–100 microns), which accumulate in the brain during normal aging and in a number of diseases. At the ultrastructural level CA contain masses of randomly oriented short linear fibrillar structures (14). In many instances the complete CA granule is surrounded by glial filaments. The presence of CA in the brain has been recognized for over a century, however its definite composition and source of origin is relatively unknown. CA tend to accumulate in subependymal, subpial and perivascular regions and are very prominent in the olfactory tract during normal senescence. Early investigations into the nature of CA suggested the presence of glucose polymers, maltose (15) and other types of carbohydrates (1), with small amounts of protein (15). A more recent study using various lectins to stain CA suggested the presence of D-glucose, D-mannose, D-galactose, alpha-L-fucose and N-acetylgalactosamine (12). In addition use of a monoclonal antibody to the glycosaminoglycan moiety of a keratan sulfate proteoglycan demonstrated (at the light microscopic level) that CA contains antigenic sites for keratan sulfate proteoglycans (12).