Localization of the Alz-50 epitope in recombinant human microtubule-associated protein tau.
Alz-50 is a monoclonal antibody that stains the neurofibrillary pathology of Alzheimer's disease, as well as apparently normal nerve cells that are at risk of developing neurofibrillary tangles. On immunoblots it recognizes microtubule-associated protein tau and proteins of 60-68 kDa that are associated with Alzheimer's disease. We have used recombinant tau proteins expressed in E. coli to map the Alz-50 epitope to amino-terminal residues 2-10, a region common to all known human tau isoforms. A direct correspondence between immunoblots and histological staining was established by the abolition of Alz-50 staining following adsorption with recombinant tau proteins retaining amino-terminal sequences. This suggests that tau pathology represents an early event in the development of the neurofibrillary pathology of Alzheimer's disease.
Goedert
M
M
Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, U.K.
Spillantini
M G
MG
Jakes
R
R
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
C056167:Alzheimer's disease antigen; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000941:Antigens; D000939:Epitopes; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016875:tau Proteins