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).