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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Low Molecular Weight Protein Enrichment on Mesoporous Silica Thin Films for Biomarker Discovery
Published on: April 17, 2012
Tau13 Antibody Preferentially Immunoprecipitates High Molecular Weight Tau Proteins
Andrew Umstead1, Irving E Vega1,2,3
1Department of Translational Science and Molecular Medicine, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
Abstract:
The accumulation of tau protein aggregates is a pathological hallmark in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases. However, the identity of the toxic tau conformation that propagates and induces neurodegeneration is still unknown. Anti-tau antibodies are a common tool used to differentiate between normal and pathological-associated tau forms or as passive immunotherapy in the quest to interfere with tau-mediated neurodegeneration. Here, we show that Tau13, a tau N-terminal antibody, preferentially enriches high molecular weight tau species produced in a tauopathy mouse model and AD. The data suggest that Tau13 has higher affinity to specific tau conformation presence in higher molecular weight tau species.
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