SILVER LABELING OF ALZHEIMER NEUROFIBRILLARY CHANGES AND BRAIN BETA-AMYLOID

Alzheimer neurofibrillary changes and brain beta-amyloid can be stained selectively by silver impregnation on tissue sections and (in the case of neurofibrillary proteins) on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The stain can be applied to frozen sections of tissue from 10-150 mum thick, to similarly thick polyethylene glycol sections, or to 5-15 mum thick paraffin sections. The technique can also be applied to routinely fixed autopsy material. The technique takes advantage of the physical development of nucleation sites. thereby permitting tight control of the entire procedure. It is less expensive than immunocytochemical techniques, and facilitates processing of large numbers of sections through entire hemispheres of the human brain.