NU 2005-105

Inventor

Lester Binder

Short Description

Tau-12 is a mouse monoclonal antibody that binds to human tau at residues 9-18 in the amino terminus.

Abstract

Researcher Lester Binder has created a series of useful antibodies that are specific for the human tau protein. This particular antibody, Tau-12 mAb, is of the IgG1 isotype and is phosphorylation-independent. Tau-12 mAb is an important tool as it is capable of recognizing early stage tangles in Alzheimer's disease. The epitope, which is not inherent to tau, first emerges after an initial tau phosphorylation event. However, it is later lost after cleavage by caspase-6. At a similar time to this N-terminal cleavage, the C-terminus of tau is also cleaved by caspase-3. The bilateral cleavage of tau activates apoptotic proteases, resulting in neuronal death. Therefore, immunoreactivity of Tau-12 is an important indicator of the progression of tau pathology and is a powerful tool to study the role of truncated tau in Alzheimer's disease.

Applications

• Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease progression
• Research Tool: Protein Analysis ELISA
• Immunoblot
• Immunohistochemistry
• Immunoprecipitation

Advantages

• High Affinity
• High Specificity for N- and C-truncated form of tau

Publications

Ghoshal N, Garcia-Sierra F, Wuu J, Leurgans S, Bennett D, Berry R, Binder L. (2002) Tau conformational changes correspond to impairments of episodic memory in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Experimental Neurology. 177: 475-93.

Horowitz P, Patterson K, Guillozet-Bongaarts A, Reynolds M, Carroll C, Weintraub S, Bennett D, Cryns V, Berry R, Binder L. (2004) Early N-terminal changes and caspase-6 cleavage of tau in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Neuroscience. 24: 7895-902.

IP Status

This antibody is available to be licensed as a research reagent.