Neurofibrillary tangles in dementia pugilistica are ubiquitinated.

Ubiquitin, a protein thought to be involved in the ATP-dependent non-lysosomal degradation of abnormal proteins, has already been identified as a component of neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease. We have examined ubiquitin immunoreactivity in a unique collection of brains from 16 ex-boxers including 11 with dementia pugilistica. Neurofibrillary tangles of dementia pugilistica were labelled with an affinity purified antiserum to ubiquitin, and BF10, a monoclonal antibody to a neurofilament epitope.