Neurology Medicine

Archive for the ‘Antibody’ Category

Growth Associated Protein 43, or Gap43 antibodies are widely used in neuronal cell marker studies. Gap43 is expressed at high levels in neural growth cones during neuron development and axon regeneration. Considered to be an essential component of the axon and presynaptic terminal, it is used to tag injured neurons, and to track neuronal regeneration. We at Novus Biologicals recently extended our Gap43 antibody catalogue, bringing our total number of Gap43 antibodies products to 30.

The role of Gap43 during development is not restricted to axons. It is also found in the centrosome. Experiments in 1995 showed that differentiating neurons unable to express Gap43 underwent abnormalities of the mitotic spindles and centrosome, resulting in restricted cerebellum development, pathfinding defects and lethality shortly after birth. Gap43 is also expressed to some extent in reactive glial cells – cells which maintain homeostasis, produce myelin and protect and support the neurons of the brain.

Gap43 is essential for neurite formation, regeneration and plasticity. In the late 1990s, Benowitz and others showed Gap43 to be a major substrate for protein kinase C (PKC). PKC is known to phosphorylate a number of proteins that regulate synaptic plasticity, such as MARCKS and the NMDA receptor.

Gap43 has also been shown to undergo phosphorylation following long-term potentiation and learning. In 2009, Holahan and Routtenberg looked at the information storage role of Gap43 and its link to PKC phosphorylation in more detail. Using a mouse behaviour model and PKC/Gap43 antibodies, they showed that phosphorylation of a single Gap43 site affected performance of spatial memory tasks. Recently, Se Hyun Kim et al used Gap43 antibodies to examine the effect of electroconvulsive therapy on mood disorders. Gap43 is known to undergo phosphorylation following ECT treatment.

DNA-sequencing lies at the very heart of what we at Novus Biologicals do. In the last 3 years, enormous advancements have been made that make it more and more likely our antibodies will one day be used for routine diagnostic procedures.

The recent development of next-generation sequencing, which allows the analysis of the distribution of DNA bases over hundreds of different genes and gene segments in a single sample, has become an exciting alternative to microarray assays. These utilise a hybridisation technique and tiny amounts of DNA sample and target antibody, to produce quantifiable fluorescent spots on a biochip. However, the process results in variable results between experiments, and the DNA can hybridise in more than one spot, creating misleading data.

Next-gen sequencing, although in its infancy, addresses these problems by performing actual sequence reads. In combination with antibody probes, it has been used to determine regulatory biomarkers in chromatin; distinguish the differences between stem cells and differentiated cells; locate the binding position of a neural regulatory protein in the genome, and explore how activation by an external signal affects the behaviour of a regulatory protein. These areas are familiar to anyone ordering proteins from our antibody catalog.

Our antibody catalogue is primarily used for disease research. Recently, next-gen technology has been used to identify gene loci associated with the autosomal recessive/dominant disorders Miller and Schinzel-Giedion syndrome, and TARP syndrome, an X-linked form of cleft palate caused by a mutation in the RBM10 gene.

Recently King et al, of the University of Washington, reported it as a fast and cost-effective way to screen women for DNA mutations linked to ovarian and breast cancer. A large number of proteins on our cancer antibody database are devoted to breast cancer.