Research Reagents

Miscellaneous scientific resources, such as antibodies, are available to the neuroscience community.

The UC Davis/NIH NeuroMab Facility

The mission of the UC Davis/NIH NeuroMab facility is to generate and distribute high quality, validated mouse monoclonal antibodies against molecular targets found in the nervous system (NeuroMabs). These antibodies are suitable for 1) immunocytochemical-based imaging studies of protein localization in adult, developing and pathological brain samples, 2) biochemical analyses of subunit composition and post-translational modifications of native brain proteins, and 3) proteomic analyses of native brain protein networks. The NeuroMab facility is funded for a five-year period with the goal of making 200-300 monoclonal antibodies against neuronal proteins. An initial emphasis has been to select membrane proteins (receptors/channels/transporters), synaptic proteins, other neuronal signaling molecules, and proteins with established links to disease states as targets. Recently, the NeuroMab facility was expanded to include targets involved in neurodevelopment and in epigenetic events. The resulting monoclonal antibodies (NeuroMabs) are produced on a large scale and made available to the neuroscience research community at low cost in the form of tissue culture supernatant and purified immunoglobulin.

Submitting target nominations:
The NeuroMab facility accepts suggestions for targets. Requestors should provide scientific justification as to the biological importance of the target molecule, the need in the neuroscience research community for the resulting NeuroMabs, and information about the availability and suitability of existing polyclonal and/or monoclonal antibodies. Requestors should also include a list of reagents (synthetic peptides, fusion proteins, full-length cDNAs for transfection in mammalian cells and samples from knockout mice) that could be made available to the NeuroMab staff to facilitate the development and characterization of these NeuroMabs. Submit this information by logging into the NeuroMab Suggestion Area.. The NeuroMab advisory board, together with program officials from NINDS and NIMH, will then prioritize requests in the NeuroMab production pipeline.

Related sites:
UC Davis/NIH NeuroMab Facility
NIH Neuroscience Blueprint

Contact:
Dr. Randall Stewart, Program Director, NINDS