Mouse Monoclonal Antibody to α-Internexin/NF66 Cat# MCA-2E3

      α-internexin is a Class IV intermediate filament protein originally discovered by two different groups of researchers as it copurifies with NF-L, NF-M and NF-H, the better known major neurofilament "triplet" subunits (1,2). It is expressed only in neurons and in large amounts early in neuronal development, but is down-regulated in many neurons as development proceeds. Some neurons express α-internexin in the absence of NF-L, NF-M and NF-H, though most mature neurons express all four proteins. This α-internexin antibody has been shown, in peer reviewed publications, to reveal the upregulation of α-internexin in facial neurons following experimental axotomy followed by down regulation on axonal regeneration (3). It is also the standard reagent used to identify and classify patients with neurofilament inclusion body disease, a specific form of frontotemporal lobar dementia (4-6). Finally it has been used to confirm the presence of circulating antibodies to α-internexin in the blood of certain patients with endocrine autoimmunity (7).

Chromogenic immunostaining of a formalin fixed paraffin embedded human cerebellum section with mouse mAb to α-Internexin, MCA-2E3, dilution 1:1,000, detected in DAB (brown) using the Vector Labs ImmPRESS method and reagents with citra buffer retrieval. Hematoxylin (blue) was used as the counterstain. The 2E3 α-Internexin antibody strongly labels neuronal processes in both rat and human brain. This antibody performs well in testing with both 4% PFA and standard NBF fixed tissues. Mouse select image for larger view.

1. Pachter J and Liem RKH. Alpha-Internexin, a 66-kD intermediate filament-binding protein from mammalian central nervous tissues. J Cell Biol 101:1316-22 (1985).
2. Chiu FC, et al. Characterization of a novel 66 kd subunit of mammalian neurofilaments. Neuron 2:1435-45 (1989).
3. McGraw T. et al. Axonally transported peripheral signals regulate alpha-internexin expression in regenerating motoneurons. J Neurosci. 22:4955-63 (2002).
4. Evans J. et al. Characterization of mitotic neurons derived from adult rat hypothalamus and brain stem. J. Neurophysiol. 87:1076-85 (2002).
5. Cairns NJ. et al. Alpha-internexin is present in the pathological inclusions of neuronal intermediate filament inclusion disease. Am . J. Pathol. 164:2153-61 (2004).
6. Uchikado H1, Shaw G, Wang DS, Dickson DW.
Screening for neurofilament inclusion disease using alpha-internexin immunohistochemistry. Neurology 64:1658-9 (2005).
7. Rajasalu T, et al. Demonstration of natural autoantibodies against the neurofilament protein alpha-internexin in sera of patients with endocrine autoimmunity and healthy individuals. Immunol. Lett. 94:153-60 (2004).


The antibody has also been sold through many OEM partners, and almost 70 peer-reviewed publications making use of it can be found by searching Google Scholar for "2E3 AND internexin" or, if you are reading this online, simply by selecting this link.