A monoclonal antibody labels type II neurons of the spiral ganglion.

Tissue from mature rat and cat cochleas was stained with basic dyes in order to distinguish between the cell bodies of type I and II spiral ganglion neurons. This same tissue was then stained with protargol, or processed immunocytochemically using a monoclonal neurofilament antibody, RT-97. Type II neurons were intensely stained, whereas type I neurons were not. We conclude that type II neurons can be clearly distinguished by their abundant neurofilament content.