This antibody was developed with support of The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) with the assistance of a consortium of investigators to help accelerate LRRK2 research.

LRRK2 (Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, dardarin) is a multi-domain protein belonging to the ROCO family of proteins that contains a kinase and GTPase domain among its many protein interaction domains. LRRK2 is mutated in a significant number of Parkinson's disease(PD) patients. Mutations in this gene account for 4% of PD, and are observed in 1% of sporadic PD patients. The most common mutation replaces glycine 2019 with a serine that results in increased LRRK2 kinase activity. This indicates that inhibitors of LRRK2 kinase activity might be of therapeutic benefit for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and has stimulated much activity in this field of research. Based upon mass spectrometry findings, a number of other residues within LRRK2 have also been found to be phosphorylated as well.

It is of note that phosphorylation of Serine 955 is not thought to be the result of autophosphorylation of the kinase though currently, the physiological relevance of these phospho-sites is not clear. Thus with the generation of this phospho-specific antibody, it is MJFF's hope that investigators may have at hand a critical tool to assist in their research endeavors that might thereby lend further clarity to the field of LRRK2 and its role in PD pathogenesis.

Acknowledgements: The Michael J. Fox Foundation would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following laboratories and individuals, whose input, guidance and assistance in testing all phospho specific LRRK2 antibodies was critical:

• The Laboratory of Dr. Dario Alessi (University of Dundee) - Paul Davies, PhD
• The Laboratory of Dr. Mark Cookson (National Institute on Aging) - Alexandra Beilina, PhD
• The Laboratory of Dr. Johannes Gloeckner (Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen)
• The Laboratory of Dr. Takeshi Iwatsubo (University of Tokyo) - Genta Ito, PhD
• The Laboratory of Dr. Jeremy Nichols (The Parkinson's Institute)
• The Laboratory of Dr. Andrew West (University of Alabama)

This product is a recombinant monoclonal antibody, which offers several advantages including:

• - High batch-to-batch consistency and reproducibility
• - Improved sensitivity and specificity
• - Long-term security of supply
• - Animal-free production

Our RabMAb^® technology is a patented hybridoma-based technology for making rabbit monoclonal antibodies. For details on our patents, please refer to RabMAb^® patents.

The Life Science industry has been in the grips of a reproducibility crisis for a number of years. Abcam is leading the way in addressing the problem with our range of recombinant monoclonal antibodies and knockout edited cell lines for gold-standard validation.

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