Rabbit Polyclonal Antibody to MAP2D RPCA-MAP2D

      Microtubules are 25nm diameter protein rods found in most eukaryotic cells and are associated with a family of proteins called microtubule associated proteins (MAPs). MAPs play a crucial role in the regulation of microtubule dynamics and interactions in vivo. MAP2 was originally named as one of the higher molecular weight MAPs with an SDS-PAGE molecular weight of about 280kDa (1-3). There is a single mammalian MAP2 gene which may generates two high molecular weight proteins of ~280kDa on SDS-PAGE named MAP2A and MAP2B and multiple lower molecular weight forms usually named MAP2C and MAP2D which run on SDS-PAGE gels at 60-70kDa. The lower molecular weight forms are found in neurons early in development, but as the animal matures they are replaced by the higher molecular weight forms (1,2). MAP2 isoforms are expressed only in neurons in perikarya and dendrites, so MAP2 antibodies are useful for identifying neurons in cell culture and sectioned material (4-8). MAP2C and D contain an "intrinsically unstructured region", one of the prototypes for this widespread type of protein sequence (9). Since MAP2C and D are expressed earlier in development than MAP2A and B this antibody can be used for monitoring early neuronal development, though it is also useful as a general marker for neurons and dendrites in mature tissues.

Chromogenic immunostaining of a 4% paraformaldehyde fixed paraffin embedded rat cerebellum section with rabbit pAb to MAP2D, RPCA- MAP2D, dilution 1:4,000, detected with DAB (brown) using the Vector Elite ABC-HRP detection and reagents with citra buffer retrieval. Hematoxylin (blue) was used as the counterstain. RPCA-MAP2D strongly labels Purkinje cell perikarya and dendrites. This antibody performs well in testing with both 4% PFA and standard neutral buffer formalin fixed and paraffin embedded rat, mouse and human tissues. Mouse select image for larger view.



Immunofluorescent analysis of a section of adult rat hippocampus stained with rabbit pAb to Microtubule Associated Protein 2D (MAP2D), RPCA-MAP2D, dilution 1:2,000 in green, and with mouse mAb to Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP), MCA-5C10, dilution 1:1,000 in red. The blue is Hoechst staining of nuclear DNA. The MAP2D antibody stains dendrites and perikarya of neurons, while the GFAP antibody labels network of astrocytic glial cells. Mouse select image above left for larger view.

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