- Richardson, Timothy;
- Orr, Miranda;
- Orr, Timothy;
- Rohde, Susan;
- Ehrenberg, Alexander;
- Thorn, Emma;
- Christie, Thomas;
- Flores-Almazan, Victoria;
- Afzal, Robina;
- De Sanctis, Claudia;
- Maldonado-Díaz, Carolina;
- Hiya, Satomi;
- Canbeldek, Leyla;
- Kulumani Mahadevan, Lakshmi;
- Slocum, Cheyanne;
- Samanamud, Jorge;
- Clare, Kevin;
- Scibetta, Nicholas;
- Yokoda, Raquel;
- Koenigsberg, Daniel;
- Marx, Gabriel;
- Kauffman, Justin;
- Goldstein, Adam;
- Selmanovic, Enna;
- Drummond, Eleanor;
- Wisniewski, Thomas;
- White, Charles;
- Goate, Alison;
- Crary, John;
- Farrell, Kurt;
- Alosco, Michael;
- Mez, Jesse;
- McKee, Ann;
- Stein, Thor;
- Bieniek, Kevin;
- Kautz, Tiffany;
- Daoud, Elena;
- Walker, Jamie
INTRODUCTION: Alzheimers disease (AD), primary age-related tauopathy (PART), and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) all feature hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau)-immunoreactive neurofibrillary degeneration, but differ in neuroanatomical distribution and progression of neurofibrillary degeneration and amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition. METHODS: We used Nanostring GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiling to compare the expression of 70 proteins in neurofibrillary tangle (NFT)-bearing and non-NFT-bearing neurons in hippocampal CA1, CA2, and CA4 subregions and entorhinal cortex of cases with autopsy-confirmed AD (n = 8), PART (n = 7), and CTE (n = 5). RESULTS: There were numerous subregion-specific differences related to Aβ processing, autophagy/proteostasis, inflammation, gliosis, oxidative stress, neuronal/synaptic integrity, and p-tau epitopes among these different disorders. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that there are subregion-specific proteomic differences among the neurons of these disorders, which appear to be influenced to a large degree by the presence of hippocampal Aβ. These proteomic differences may play a role in the differing hippocampal p-tau distribution and pathogenesis of these disorders. HIGHLIGHTS: Alzheimers disease neuropathologic change (ADNC), possible primary age-related tauopathy (PART), definite PART, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can be differentiated based on the proteomic composition of their neurofibrillary tangle (NFT)- and non-NFT-bearing neurons. The proteome of these NFT- and non-NFT-bearing neurons is largely correlated with the presence or absence of amyloid beta (Aβ). Neurons in CTE and definite PART (Aβ-independent pathologies) share numerous proteomic similarities that distinguish them from ADNC and possible PART (Aβ-positive pathologies).