Figure 2

Immunohistochemistry of VCP in the spinal cords. (a,b) In the control case, neuronal (a, arrows) and glial (b, arrows) nuclei are devoid of immunoreactivity. The nucleus of this AHC (a, inset, arrow) in the control case was stained faintly with the anti-VCP antibody. (c,d) In the ALS cases the same antibody distinctly immunolabels nuclei of the AHCs (c, arrows) and those of the glial cells (d, arrows). The cytoplasm of the indicated AHC (c, arrowhead) is also stained diffusely. (e,f) In the ALS-VCP patient a nucleus of an AHC (e, arrow) and glial nuclei (f, arrows) give positive staining with the anti-VCP antibody. (g) The frequency of VCP-positive neuronal nuclei in the lumbar cord of the patients with SALS (mean ± standard deviation, 26.1 ± 31.5%) was significantly higher than that of the controls (1.8 ± 3.2%). Values are the means of the percentage of VCP-positive neuronal nuclei in each case; and error bars represent the standard deviation (*p < 0.05, Mann–Whitney U test). Immunohistochemistry was performed with the rabbit polyclonal antibody against VCP. Scale bars = 25 μm.