Home > E. Pathology by systems > Nervous system > Central nervous system > Brain > amyloid plaques
amyloid plaques
Sunday 30 March 2008
Amyloid plaques are compact, spherical extracellular deposits consisting of a small (4 kDa) protein called the amyloid β-peptide (Aβ). These extracellular lesions are usually found in limbic brain regions, such as the hippocampus and amygdala, and also in specific cortical and subcortical areas.
Most plaques in the Alzheimer disease brain are of the diffuse type, containing or surrounded by few dystrophic dendrites and axons, in contrast to the less frequent neuritic plaques, in which dystrophic neurites are a prominent and commonplace feature.
See also
Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs)
- NFTs are intracellular aggregates that are composed of hyperphosphorylated forms of the tau protein (MAPT). These filamentous inclusions occur in select neuronal cell bodies.
