α‐MSH and neurofilament M‐protein share a continuous epitope but not extended sequences

摘要

>The long recognized neurofibrillary immunoreactivity of the nervous system with α-MSH antibodies arises from an epitope on neurofilament M-protein which we have now characterized. It is situated in the amino terminal residues where M-protein and α-MSH exhibit similar but not identical sequences. Their divergence past residue 5 precludes a physiological significance of the crossreactivity which seems to have arisen fortuitously. Our results question previous speculations as to the existence of extrapituitary α-MSH-like hormones.