Heparan sulfate proteoglycans recognize ghost Pick bodies.

An anti-heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) monoclonal antibody (3G10) recognized irregular round structures (IRSs) of various sizes adjacent to tau-positive intracellular Pick bodies (PBs) in the granular cell layer of the dentate gyrus and the superficial layers of the parahippocampal and other temporal gyri in Pick's disease. Some intracellular PBs were also weakly immunostained with 3G10. Only part of the IRSs were double-immunostained with 3G10 and anti-tau antibody. Immunoelectron-microscopic examination revealed that IRSs were composed of aggregated fibrillary structures with a diameter of 10-20 nm, corresponding to the appearance of ghost PBs. These findings suggest that 3G10 identifies ghost PBs better than intracellular PBs, and that heparan sulfate proteoglycans are involved in the process of PBs extinction.