Description
Introduction: Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), is a polypeptide hormone and nerve growth factor whose actions appear to be restricted to the nervous system where it promotes neurotransmitter synthesis and neurite outgrowth in certain neuronal populations including astrocytes. The protein is a potent survival factor for neurons and oligodendrocytes and may be relevant in reducing tissue destruction during inflammatory attacks. A mutation in this gene, which results in aberrant splicing, leads to ciliary neurotrophic factor deficiency, but this phenotype is not causally related to neurologic disease. In addition to the predominant monocistronic transcript originating from this locus, the gene is also co-transcribed with the upstream ZFP91 gene. Co-transcription from the two loci results in a transcript that contains a complete coding region for the zinc finger protein but lacks a complete coding region for ciliary neurotrophic factor.
Principle of the Assay: The microtiter plate provided in this kit has been pre-coated with an antibody specific to CNTF. Standards or samples are then added to the appropriate microtiter plate wells with a biotin-conjugated antibody preparation specific for CNTF and Avidin conjugated to Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) is added to each microplate well and incubated. Then a TMB (3,3',5,5' tetramethyl-benzidine) substrate solution is added to each well. Only those wells that contain CNTF, biotin-conjugated antibody and enzyme-conjugated Avidin will exhibit a change in color. The enzyme-substrate reaction is terminated by the addition of a sulphuric acid solution and the color change is measured spectrophotometrically at a wavelength of 450 nm +/- 2 nm. The concentration of CNTF in the samples is then determined by comparing the O.D. of the samples to the standard curve