Neurofilament H immunoreaction in oligodendrogliomas as demonstrated by a new polyclonal antibody

We have characterized a new polyclonal antibody against heavy chain (H) of neurofilament which can be used to demonstrate neurofilament H in normal brain tissue and oligodendroglioma cells immunocytochemically and immunochemically. Using this antibody we found neurofilament H-immunoreactive tumor cells in 13 oligodendrogliomas (6 WHO grade II, 7 WHO grade III) out of 84 oligodendrogliomas investigated (59 WHO grade II and 25 WHO grade III). Double immunolabeling and confocal laser scanning microscopy showed colocalization of neurofilament H and glial fibrillary acidic protein in certain oligodendroglioma cells. Colocalization of neurofilament and synaptophysin was observed only rarely. The results support the notion that oligodendrogliomas consists of a heterogeneous cell population displaying various stages of differentiation and dedifferentiation. The occurrence of neurofilament H-immunoreactive tumor cells in oligodendrogliomas is not related to the survival of the patients.