Reduced expression of the inhibitory synapse scaffolding protein gephyrin in Alzheimer's disease

Excitotoxicity may contribute to neuronal and synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aberrant levels of gephyrin, a post-synaptic receptor-stabilizing protein, could affect the inhibitory modulation of excitatory impulses. We assayed gephyrin protein in two brain areas susceptible to neuronal loss in AD, and in a spared area, in autopsy tissue from normal subjects (n=15) and AD patients (n=5). Quantification was by in-gel immunodetection against known concentrations of a recombinant truncated gephyrin standard. Gephyrin abundance was significantly reduced (P