DegenoTag™ Reagents

    These are a new class of antibody reagent which specifically identify degenerating and degenerated neurons and their processes. They work by binding to a class of epitopes located in the central region of the α-helical segment of the major neurofilament subunit NF-L. These epitopes are hidden in healthy undamaged neurons but become accessible to antibodies of this specificity following proteolysis induced by cell death. The details of how we discovered these sites and made antibodies to them are outlined in a recent peer-reviewed paper in Brain Communications. There are three mouse monoclonal antibodies to distinct epitopes which share this degeneration specific staining pattern, MCA-6H63, MCA-1D44 and MCA-1B11. We also generated two degeneration specific NF-L polyclonal antibodies made in rabbit and chicken, RPCA-NF-L-Degen and CPCA-NF-L-Degen respectively. For an example of the use of these reagents see below. The green signal shows healthy axons in rat spinal cord revealed with an antibody, RPCA-NF-L-ct, which binds an epitope rapidly degraded on neurodegeneration. The red signal shows axons degenerating or degenerated following spinal cord injury with Degenotag™ reagent MCA-6H63.