αB-Crystallin is present in reactive glia in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

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Abstract
α-Crystallin is a major eye lens protein, composed of two types of subunits, αA and αB. The αA subunit is restricted to the lens, but αB-crystallin has recently also been detected in non-lenticular tissues, including the nervous system. With the use of a polyclonal antiserum directed against a synthetic C-terminal peptide of human αB-crystallin, the presence of αB-crystallin could be demonstrated immunohistochemically in astrocytes in the brains of patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Most intensive localization was observed in the spongiotic tissue representing abundant progressively changed astrocytes in CJD. In agematched control brains weak positive reaction was located in individual oligodendroglia cells and subpial astrocytes. Prominent increase of αB-crystallin in pathological glia in CJD may represent a response to stress.

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