In our ongoing studies of autoimmune aspects of disease we have been studying serum obtained from the blood of humans with neurological disorders (e.g., tremors, muscle stiffness). When we perform immuno- cytochemistry following the application of human sera to histological sections of the rat brain, we are able to occasionally reveal a human antiserum that reacts with neuronal structures in the brain. We then perform gel elecrophoresis plus immunoblotting utilizing the human antisera. We have, so far, revealed a 36 kDa protein from one patient and a 21.5 kDa protein from two other patients who were stung by bees on two separate occasions. Since we have the serum of these patients, we can do affinity columns in order to purify and subsequently identify these proteins. This is important, since once we know the identity of the proteins we may be able to design neuroprotective measures that will ameliorate the neurological disorders.
