IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDIES WITH ANTIBODIES TO NEUROFILAMENT PROTEINSON AXONAL DAMAGE IN EXPERIMENTAL FOCAL LESIONS IN RAT

Immunohistochemistry with monoclonal antibodies against neurofilament (NF) proteins of middle and high molecular weight class, NF-M and NF-H , was used to study axonal injury in the borderzone of focal lesions i n rats. Focal injury in the cortex was produced by infusion of lactate at acid pH or by stab caused by needle insertion. Infarcts in substan tia nigra pars reticulata were evoked by prolonged pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus. Immunohistochemical staining for NFs showed chara cteristic terminal clubs of axons in the borderzone of lesions. Differ ences in the labelling pattern occurred with different antibodies whic h apparently depended on molecular weight class of NFs and phosphoryla tion state. These immunohistochemical changes of NFs can serve as a ma rker for axonal damage in various experimental traumatic or ischemic l esions