On the significance and reproducibility of the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus of motor neurons in human spinal cords.

Abstract

Recent immunocytochemical and morphometric studies with an organelle-specific antiserum against MG-160, an intrinsic membrane sialoglycoprotein of the Golgi apparatus, have shown in several patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and in a few patients with related conditions, a fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus of spinal cord motor neurons which resembles the dispersion of the organelle observed in cells treated with microtubule depolymerizing agents. In the present study we examined by morphometry the effect of tissue fixation and processing on the immunocytochemical morphology of the Golgi apparatus of motor neurons from spinal cords of five controls and in one patient with leptomeningeal lymphoma. Qualitative studies of the Golgi apparatus of spinal cord motor neurons were also carried out in two more individuals with lymphoma or leukemia with leptomeningeal involvement and in one patient with multiple myeloma associated with a chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. The results of this study show that it is possible to obtain optimal immunocytochemical preparations of the Golgi apparatus of spinal cord motor neurons in routinely fixed and processed tissues obtained at autopsy. This study also provides baseline values of the Golgi apparatus in normal individuals which may be useful in future studies of the organelle in human neuropathologic conditions affecting the lower motor neuron unit. Lastly, this study shows that the fragmentation of the neuronal Golgi apparatus is not limited to ALS and related disorders.