Immunohistochemical distribution of glial fibrillary acidic protein, neurofilament polypeptides and neuronal specific enolase in the human cerebellum

Abstract

The human normal cerebellar cortex has been investigated using paraffin-embedded sections and a panel of antibodies against GFAP, NSE, NF 70 Kd and 200 Kd triplet proteins. The study has shown that: 1. (1) antiserum to GFAP labelled all and only astroglial elements; 2. (2) antibodies to NSE, NF 70 Kd and 200 Kd stained the perikaryon of all neurons, with two noticeable exceptions: Purkinje cells, which remained unresponsive to all 3 reagents, and basket cells which only became labelled with the NSE antiserum; 3. (3) the staining of dendrites and axons was exquisitely selective with both the NF and the NSE antibodies, each of which displayed unique binding patterns. These immunohistochemical features, first to be described in man, are compared with those so far reported in rodents.