Topic: immunofluorescence

Wasteosomes (or corpora amylacea) appear in the human brain during aging and in some neurodegenerative conditions. They entrap waste substances originated from different cell types and can be released from the brain to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Their presence in the CSF was described using electron microscopy, PAS staining and immunofluorescence with natural IgMs and anti-glycogen synthase (GS) antibodies. However, the methods employed involved the use of a large sample volume for each staining, which hindered wasteosomes characterization. In the present work, we examined a new method to

Brain ageing in mice leads to the progressive appearance of degenerative granular structures frequently referred to as “PAS granules” because of their positive staining with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS). It has been reported that these granules contain neo-epitopes that can be recognised by natural IgM auto-antibodies, and proposed that they intervene in a brain cleaning mechanism. Some preliminary studies seem to indicate that these neo-epitopes are also present in other structures than PAS granules, so the aim of this work has been to study and characterize the presence of neo-epitopes in mice