Neurofilaments in rat and cat spinal cord; a comparative immunocytochemical study of phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated subunits.

Neurofilament immunoreactivity was examined in spinal cords of rats and cats with antibodies to all three subunits (68 kD, 155 kD and 200 kD) and to different phosphorylation states of 200 kD. NFHP-, an antibody against non-phosphorylated 200 kD, labelled all rat neuronal perikarya but failed to label cat neurofilaments. In both species, the perikarya and processes of motoneurones were immunoreactive for all three subunits but most dorsal horn neuronal perikarya were not immunoreactive for 68 kD and 155 kD. Motoneuronal perikarya and proximal processes showed filamentous labelling for 68 kD but not for 155 kD in the rat, while in neither species did these show labelling with RT97, an antibody against a highly phosphorylated form of 200 kD; immunoreactivity for 200 kD was present in both filamentous (probably partially phosphorylated) and non-filamentous (non-phosphorylated) forms, but in dorsal horn neurones only the latter was present. Interpretations consistent with this data are: in rat and possibly also cat, motoneuronal neurofilaments consist of a 68 kD backbone with partially phosphorylated 200 kD sidearms, with both 155 kD and 200 kD (nonphosphorylated) subunits in a non-filamentous form; this neurofilament becomes more highly phosphorylated along the proximal processes. The dorsal horn neurones probably contain 200 kD in a non-filamentous form but may lack the other subunits.