Immunohistochemical localization of neurofilament protein in neuronal degenerations.

The immunohistochemical localization of human neurofilament proteins was studied in a variety of neuronal changes by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method using antisera raised against each of the subunit proteins of human neurofilament. Torpedoes of the cerebellum, axonal spheroids of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as well as of infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy, and neurofibrillary changes in a case of Pick's disease were consistently immunostained. Occasionally, a positive immunoreactivity was also observed in Lewy bodies, in neurofibrillary tangles of progressive supranuclear palsy, and in neuritic processes of senile plaques. Neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer type and Pick's bodies, however, did not react with the antisera. These data indicate that the human neurofilament does not share major antigenic determinants of its subunit protein with either Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles or Pick's bodies.