Immunohistochemical characterization of neurofibrillary tangles induced by mitotic spindle inhibitors.

Neurofibrillary tangles were induced in the motor neurons of the rabbit spinal cord by the intrathecal injection of colchicine, vinblastine, and vincristine. The tangles stained intensely by immunofluorescence and by the peroxidase-anti-peroxidase procedure using neurofilament antisera raised against chicken brain antigen, as previously reported for aluminum-induced neurofibrillary tangles. No immunohistochemical reactivity could be demonstrated between the tangles and a 150,000 dalton bovine neurofilament antiserum, although the adjacent axons were intensely stained in cryostat sections of the spinal cord.