Microglia Neurodegeneration Module Antibody Sampler Kit

The Microglia Neurodegeneration Module Antibody Sampler Kit provides an economical means of detecting proteins identified as markers of microglial activity during neurodegeneration by western blot and/or immunofluorescence.

Distinct microglial activation states have been identified using RNA-seq data from a vast array of neurological disease and aging models. These activation states have been categorized into modules corresponding to proliferation, neurodegeneration, interferon-relation, LPS-relation, and many others (1). Previous work identifying markers of specific brain cell types using RNA-seq has shown HS1 and ASC/TMS1 to be useful and specific tools to study microglia (2). HS1 is a protein kinase substrate that is expressed only in tissues and cells of hematopoietic origin (3) and ASC/TMS1 has been found to be a critical component of inflammatory signaling where it associates with and activates caspase-1 in response to pro-inflammatory signals (4).
CD68 is a common marker for macrophage lineage cells; with expression found in the lysosome making it a useful marker for activated phagocytic microglia (5). Galectin-3 has been shown to regulate inflammatory response in neurodegenerative diseases, released by microglia in response to inflammatory stimuli (6). Cathepsin B is a widely expressed cysteine peptidase located in the lysosome as well as processed and secreted, playing a role in microglial-mediated neuronal death (7). Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1α) is a transcription factor responsible for adaptation to low oxygen environments whose downstream effects have been shown in a number of neurodegenerative diseases. Under normoxic conditions, HIF-1α is proline hydroxylated leading to ubiquitin mediated degradation (8). Axl is a receptor tyrosine kinase that binds Gas6, stimulating regulatory effects on microglial phagocytic response to inflammatory stimuli (9).