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Description

MAP-2 (microtubule associated protein-2) is one of several high molecular weight proteins that play an important role in brain neuron microtubule assembly. In addition to its association with microtubules, MAP-2 associates with neurofilaments and actin filaments suggesting that it may guide interaction among microtubules, other cytoskeletal elements, and cytoplasmic organelles. MAP-2 is a stringent marker for neurons. In addition, MAP-2 displays intracellular specificity. In the central nervous system, MAP-2 is confined to neuronal cell bodies and dendrites. There are exceptions, however, where some axons stain positive for small amounts of MAP-2. MAP-2 is uniformly distributed throughout the cell when first expressed in cultured neurons but becomes selectively localized as dendritic development proceeds. (Caceres, 1986, Dotti, 1987).