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Purification Of 10-5a9 Antigen In Alzheimer's Disease, Gary Isaacs

Senior Honors Theses

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that results in memory loss and reduced cognitive function. Characteristic lesions include senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Evidence for a previously unknown component, cockroach 10-5A9 antigen, within these lesions has recently been discovered. It is the purpose of this study to purify to 10-5A9 antigen for further analysis. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the antigen's presence in AD lesions and the Lewy bodies of Parkinson's disease. Although SDS-PAGE/Western blotting and immunoprecipitation techniques proved ineffective, the former indicated antigen presence in the particulate matter of AD brain homogenates. Negative results from ammonium sulfate experiments …