A cerebrospinal fluid protein associated with moyamoya disease: report of three cases.

Abstract

The pathogenesis of moyamoya disease is unknown. The purpose of this study was to detect proteins associated with the pathogenesis of moyamoya disease. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from three patients with moyamoya disease and four control patients who had cervical lesions but no intracranial lesion were studied. CSF proteins separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were analyzed with the SWISS-2DPAGE and SWISS-PROT databases. In the CSF samples from all three patients with moyamoya disease, a polypeptide spot (Mr = 12,000, pI = 5.35) was observed. This spot was not evident in samples from the four control patients and has not been reported in the SWISS-2DPAGE and SWISS-PROT databases. A CSF protein, which is possibly novel and associated with moyamoya disease, has been detected. The analysis of CSF by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis may reveal a clue by which the molecular mechanism of moyamoya disease may be elucidated.