On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Maria Mejia wrote:
> .... degenerating
> axon fibers, especially unmyelinated, in the mammalian brain (the
> primary visual cortex). I was thinking maybe a synaptophsin antibody,
> or perhaps a particular microtubules or neurofilament(s) antibody
> -which would be the best for the above????? 

 These are proteins that occur in _normal_ cells: synaptophysin
 at synapses, neurofilament proteins in axons (except very thin
 ones) and microtublules in all cells that have to move particles
 within their cytoplasm. You may see abnormalities in degenerating
 axons, but none of these will provide you with a selective
 stain that picks out the degenerating axons. Older methods
 (silver; especially Nauta-Gygax) can do this, but time after
 axotomy is quite critical, as are all the steps in the preparation
 and staining of the material.

 John A. Kiernan,
 Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
 The University of Western Ontario,
 LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1