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Monoclonal antibodies reactive with epitopes restricted to glial fibrillary acidic proteins of several species

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Neurochemical Pathology

Abstract

The highly reproducible histochemical localization of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)‡ qualifies it as an important marker of astrocytes in both research and clinical applications. The primary objective of this study was to produce monoclonal antibodies having the advantage of invariant specificity, affinity, and titer to GFAP-specific epitopes of wide species distribution. We report here the characterization of four monoclonal antibodies that recognize the same or spatially close epitopes specific to GFAP. The epitope(s) detected has been phylogenetically conserved; human, bovine, ovine, canine, porcine, rabbit, guinea pig, rat, murine, and chicken brain homogenates all specifically absorb monoclonal antibody activity. Of importance to the routine application of these new anti-GFAP monoclonal antibodies is the demonstration here of the stability of the antigen-antibody interaction in normal, reactive, and neoplastic astrocytes of both rat and human origing following various methods of fixation.

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Abbreviations

BR:

binding ratio FCS, fetal calf serum

GFAP:

glial fibrillary acidic protein

PAP:

peroxidase-antiperoxidase assay

RIA:

radioimmunoassay

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, 27710, Durham, North Carolina

    Charles N. Pegram, Carol J. Wikstrand & Darell D. Bigner

  2. Department of Pathology, Veterans Administration Hospital, 94305, Palo Alto, California

    Lawrence F. Eng

  3. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 68105, Omaha, Nebraska

    Rodney D. McComb & Yueng-Ling Lee

Authors
  1. Charles N. Pegram
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  2. Lawrence F. Eng
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  3. Carol J. Wikstrand
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  4. Rodney D. McComb
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  5. Yueng-Ling Lee
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  6. Darell D. Bigner
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Pegram, C.N., Eng, L.F., Wikstrand, C.J. et al. Monoclonal antibodies reactive with epitopes restricted to glial fibrillary acidic proteins of several species. Neurochemical Pathology 3, 119–138 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02834285

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