Type-Dependent Oxidative Damage in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration: Cortical Astrocytes Are Targets of Oxidative Damage

Oxidative injury and stress responses are common features of many neurodegenerative diseases. To assess oxidative stress responses in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), we identified increased 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) adducts using gel electrophoresis and Western blotting in frontal cortex samples in 6 of 6 cases of FTLD with the P301L mutation in the tau gene (FTLD-tau), in 3 of 10 cases with tau-negative ubiquitin-immunoreactive inclusions, and in 2 of 3 cases associated with motor neuron disease. Selectively increased lipoxidation-derived protein damage associated with altered membrane unsaturation and fatty acid profiles was verified by mass spectrometry in FTLD-tau and FTLD associated with motor neuron disease. All FTLD-tau and most cases with increased HNE-positive bands had marked astrocytosis as determined by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunohistochemistry and increased GFAP expression on Western blotting; 2 FTLD cases with tau-negative ubiquitin-immunoreactive inclusions and with increased GFAP expression did not have increased HNE adducts. Bidimensional gel electrophoresis, Western blotting, in-gel digestion, and mass spectrometry identified GFAP as a major target of lipoxidation in all positive cases; confocal microscopy revealed colocalization of HNE and GFAP in cortical astrocytes, superoxide dismutase I in astrocytes, and superoxide dismutase 2 in astrocytes and neurons in all FTLD types. Thus, in FTLD, there is variable disease-dependent oxidative damage that is prominent in FTLD-tau, astrocytes are targets of oxidative damage, and GFAP is a target of lipoxidation. Astrocytes are, therefore, crucial elements of oxidative stress responses in FTLD.