The
neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) are neuronal inclusions that are the
hallmark lesions of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
These tangles are made up of paired helical filaments (PHF).
The PHF are highly insoluble structures and are known to be
composed of a highly phosphorylated form of the microtubule-associated
protein tau and may contain associated lipid. Insoluble NFT which were
extracted in boiling sodium dodecyl sulfate, purified by sucrose gradient
centrifugation and disaggregated by sonication were used as an immunogen
for the preparation of this antiserum.
A rabbit antiserum to disaggregated PHF from AD NFT is
currently available. This antiserum has been shown to be immunoreactive
with disaggregated PHF by ELISA. This antiserum specifically immunostains
NFT and degenerating plaque neurites in cases of AD, Down's syndrome and
normal aged individuals. NFT
are heterogenous in composition and their composition undergoes changes as
the tangle matures. Because monoclonal antibodies are unique to a single
epitope, they tend to immunolabel subpopulations of tangles, which contain
this epitope. For this reason, a monoclonal antibody that immunolabels
intraneuronal tangles, may not immunolabel extracellular tangles.
Polyclonal antisera to disaggregated PHF will immunolabel all NFT, both
intracellular and extracellular, as well as all PHF-containing neurites.
This antiserum works on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections,
formalin-fixed vibratome sections and paraformaldehyde-fixed, frozen
sections. It has also been used on western blots and immunolabels the
highly insoluble SDS-resistant PHF that are excluded from gel. This antibody should be a valuable tool for scientists working
to understand the role of in AD.
Manufacturing
Reference:
Sparkman, D.R., et al.,
J. Histochem. Cytochem. 38: 703-715, 1990.