Hi All,
Looking for an antibody that stains all C.elegans neurons. If not all, then most. Does anyone know of any, would be greatly appreciated!
Also, a dorsal/ventral cord specific Antibody would also be excellent?
Thanks,
Gary.
I don’t know if there are neuronal marker antibodies available.
There are a number of strains available that express GFP::neuronal markers fusions. These might be also easier than antibody stainings.
I also do not know of any commercially available antibodies that label all C. elegans neurons. However, there is an antibody available from The Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank that stains all synaptic vesicles. The antibody was originally developed by Mike Nonet and G. Hadwiger and is a mouse monoclonal against C. elegans synaptobrevin (http://dshb.biology.uiowa.edu/synaptobrevin).
It gives punctate but fairly dense staining of the nerve ring and both cords, but doesn’t really show cell bodies or sensory dendrites (which lack pre-synaptic elements). But since it is a robust antibody (works with methanol, acetone, or formaldehyde fixation) and is sold at cost, it can be quite useful.
Otherwise, as mentioned by the previous poster, you can use a GFP line. And if you are trying to do immuno-cytochemistry, you can use an anti-GFP antibody in conjunction with another antibody.