Apolipoprotein E, Amyloid, and Alzheimer Disease

Amyloid plaques are quantitatively related to the dosage of the Apoe gene. The brain area occupied by thioflavine S-fluorescence was quantified in both hippocampus and cortex of APP^V717F transgenic mice with zero, one, or two copies of the Apoe gene. Note the nearly complete absence of amyloid (thioflavine S-fluorescent deposits) in mice lacking murine apoE. Mice with only one copy of the murine gene have less than half the amount of amyloid (thioflavine S-fluorescent deposits) relative to mice with two copies of the Apoe gene, even though the amount of Aβ immunoreactiviy is nearly identical to that of mice with two copies of the gene. (Data not shown.) Adapted from (42).