Antibodies to the neuronal cytoskeleton are elicited by Alzheimer paired helical filament fractions.

Antibodies were raised to paired helical filament (PHF) enriched fractions obtained from brains of individuals with Alzheimer disease by extraction with ionic detergent followed by sucrose gradient centrifugation. Electron microscopic examination showed that the fractions were enriched in Alzheimer PHF but contained also lipofuscin, amyloid, granular material and membranous elements. Analysis of these fractions with SDS-PAGE stained with Coomassie blue showed only a faint band at approximately 60 kDa while most of the material was excluded from the stacking gel. BALB/c mice were injected weekly with 100 or 200 micrograms of these fractions or corresponding fractions from age-matched control brains. The 3 mice injected with Alzheimer brain, but not the 5 mice injected with control brain fractions, produced antibodies that reacted with central and peripheral nervous system axons, Alzheimer neurofibrillary tangles in intact tissue as well as with isolated, SDS-treated paired helical filaments. In gel strips antibodies from all 3 mice injected with Alzheimer brain fractions reacted with the 200-kDa and 168-kDa but not the 68-kDa neurofilament subunits. The 3 antisera reacted also with some forms of the microtubule-associated protein tau. Adsorptions with the insoluble fraction from Alzheimer but not from control brains blocked staining of axons and NFT by all 3 antisera. Adsorption with highly purified neurofilament proteins or with a preparation containing the 200-kDa and 168-kDa neurofilament subunits blocked axon and NFT immunostaining only in one antiserum. Adsorptions with microtubule protein, heat-stable microtubule-associated protein, or a preparation of tau did not completely block immunostaining by any of the 3 antisera. These results demonstrate that fractions enriched with Alzheimer paired helical filaments contain insoluble neurofilament, tau and other yet unidentified antigens.