Monoclonal antibodies with selective specificity for Alzheimer Tau are directed against phosphatase-sensitive epitopes.

A modified form of the microtubule-associated protein Tau is the major component of the paired helical filaments (PHF) found in Alzheimer's disease. The characterization of these posttranslational Tau modifications is hindered by the lack of sufficient PHF-Tau-specific markers. Here we describe several monoclonal antibodies, prepared by immunization with PHF, two of which showed a selective specificity for PHF-Tau without cross-reactivity with normal Tau. Epitope recognition by these two monoclonals was sensitive to alkaline phosphatase treatment. In Western blotting these monoclonal antibodies reacted specifically with the abnormally phosphorylated epitopes on Alzheimer's disease-associated PHF-Tau. One of the new antibodies can be used for the construction of a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the specific detection of PHF-Tau without cross-reactivity to normal Tau proteins.