An immunohistological study of the human enteric nervous system with microtubule-associated proteins.

Immunohistochemical study of normal intestines from six infants and children with monoclonal antibodies against microtubule-associated proteins showed that microtubule-associated proteins 5 and tau were excellent markers of the enteric nervous system. Compared with neuron-specific enolase, microtubule-associated proteins 5 and tau had similar distribution but gave more cellular details showing a cytoskeleton of microtubules in neuroplasm. Unlike S100 protein, microtubule-associated proteins 5 and tau were neuron specific and were absent from glial cells. More enteric neurons contained microtubule-associated proteins 5 and tau than neurofilament proteins. Of the other microtubule-associated proteins, microtubule-associated protein 2 was present in only a few enteric neurons and microtubule-associated protein 1 was entirely absent.