Neurofilament Antibodies

Neurofilaments are types of intermediate filament that serve as major elements of the cytoskeleton supporting the axon cytoplasm. They are the most abundant fibrillar components of the axon, being on average 3-10 times more frequent than axonal microtubules. Neurofilaments (10 nm in diameter) are built from three intertwined protofibrils which are themselves composed of two tetrameric protofilament complexes of monomeric proteins. The neurofilament triplet proteins (68/70, 160, and 200 kDa) occur in both the central and peripheral nervous system and are usually neuron specific. The 68/70 kDa NF-L protein can self-assemble into a filamentous structure; however, the 160 kDa NF-M and 200 kDa NF-H proteins require the presence of the 68-/70 kDa NF-L protein to co-assemble). Alpha-internexin is also a neurofilament (class IV intermediate filament) approximately 66 kDa in size. Alpha-internexin forms homopolymers and may well form a separate filament system from the other three heteropolymeric neurofilaments. Alpha-internexin is one of the earliest expressed filaments in neurons, being present in developing neuroblasts, but also in the CNS of adults. The neuron-specific nature of neurofilaments and their wide cytoplasmic distribution makes them excellent targets for antibody markers where extensive labeling of the neuron is desired. Some of EMD-Millipore’s Chemicon monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to specific neurofilaments have been epitope mapped as shown in the figure below. See the Ordering Tab for the comprehensive lists phosphorylation dependent and phosphorylation independent antibodies to all four neurofilament types.

Visit www.millipore.com for complete lists of neural specific markers.

Neurofilament Epitope Map