Antibody for human p75 LNTR identifies cholinergic basal forebrain of non-primate species

192-IgG is an antibody directed against the p75 low affinity nerve growth factor receptor in rats, whereas ME 20.4 was raised against the analogous protein in humans. Coupled to saporin, 192-IgG and ME 20.4 have been used to lesion basal forebrain neurons in rats and primates, respectively. We compared the cross-reactivity of 192-IgG and ME 20.4 in the basal forebrain of rat, human, dog, cat, raccoon, pig, and rabbit. We found excellent species cross-reactivity of ME 20.4 in dog, raccoon, cat, pig and rabbit. In contrast, 192-IgG did not label neurons in any species other than rat. Our findings suggest that ME 20.4-saporin could be used to produce cholinergic basal forebrain lesions in several non-primate species. (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.