Figure 1

Specificity of BDNF immunolabeling of spinal sections with the Santa Cruz anti-BDNF antibody. As shown in control images (right) the labeling of perikarya and fibers, carried out with the anti-BDNF antibody (Ab) preadsorbed with control peptide, has been completely abolished. A weak, diffused signal seen in neuropil of the section incubated with the preadsorbed Ab and shown at higher magnification in the lower panel (right) was made visible owing to prolonged exposure time. However, cell bodies in lamina IX remain unstained and can be distinguished as white empty areas indicated by black arrows on right panel. When the photographs were taken under the same exposure conditions for the sections labeled with anti-BDNF Ab and with anti-BDNF Ab preabsorbed with a control peptide, the latter signal could not be seen. Scale bars, 500 μm in the upper panels and 25 μm in lower panels.