Nestin is a large class Vl intermediate filament protein predominantly expressed in the neuroepithelial stem cells of the embryonic central nervous system, although recent nestin antibody studies have shown it expressed in other cell types, including vascular endothelial cells. The first monoclonal nestin antibody was developed by Hockfield and McKay in 1985.
Nestin is widely used as a marker for stem, progenitor, glioma and tumor endothelial cells, and has proven to be a valuable angiogenic marker in tumor studies. It is widely expressed in glioblasta multiformes and primary and metastatic melanomas, though not metastatic carcinomas.
-Immunocytochemistry-Immunofluorescence-NB300-266-img0006.jpg "Immunocytochemistry/Immunofluorescence: Nestin Antibody")
Recent cancer research has made regular use of Nestin antibodies. In 2009, G. Alum, et al. published findings in the American Journal of Pathology, using one of these products to show that the oncogene MYCN promoted expansion of Phox2B-positive neuronal progenitors in mice, triggering development of neuroblastomas.
It is known that MYCN amplification leads to the development of neuroblastomas with poorly differentiated neuroblasts which respond poorly to clinical treatment. However, the cellular origin of these neuroblasts, and the cell types driving MYCN tumour development, remain poorly understood. Alum examined these issues in a transgenic mouse model of a human form of the disease, in which MYCN neuroblastomas develop from sympathetic ganglia lesions in early postnatal development.
Both primary tumours and hyperplasias were predominantly composed of Phox2B(+) neuronal progenitor cells, which MYCN induced into expansion by blocking differentiation and promoting proliferation. It was seen that undifferentiated nestin-positive cells could act as precursors of Phox2B(+) neuronal progenitors, suggesting this as a cellular pathway for MYCN to promote tumour development.
We at Novus Biologicals have a broad antibody database, with over 500 products used in the field of Nestin research. This includes 21 specific Nestin antibodies, including one targeted to the nestin oligodendrocyte marker.
