Phosphorylation‐Dependent Immunoreactivity of Neurofilaments Increases During Axonal Maturation and β,β′‐Iminodipropionitrile Intoxication

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Abstract
The immunoreactivity of the high-molecular-weight neurofilament (NF) subunit toward antibodies that react with phosphorylation-related epitopes was determined at different anatomic sites in the PNS of rats during normal maturation and after intoxication with β,β′-iminodipropionitriIe (IDPN). A maturational increase in the relative binding of phosphor-ylation-dependent antibodies compared to phosphorylation-inhibited antibodies occurred from age 3 to 12 weeks. An increase in phosphorylation-related immunoreactivity with increasing distance from the cell bodies was present in ventral and dorsal roots at all ages. The degree of phosphorylation-related immunoreactivity was greater for centrally directed axons in the dorsal roots of the L5 ganglion than for peripherally directed axons. IDPN, a toxin that impairs NF transport, caused a marked increase in reactivity toward the phos-phorylation-dependent antibody. NFs from IDPN-treated rats also bound less of an antibody that is normally phosphorylation independent and this inhibition of binding was sensitive to phosphatase digestion. In each instance, greater degrees of phosphorylation-dependent immunoreactivity correlate with conditions known to exhibit slower net rates of axonal tran; port of NF proteins

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