NF-L in cerebrospinal fluid and serum is a biomarker of neuronal damage in an inducible mouse model of neurodegeneration.

Accumulation of neurofilaments (NFs), the major constituents of the neuronal cytoskeleton, is a distinctive feature of neurological diseases and several studies have shown that soluble NFs can be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with neurological diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. Here we have used an inducible transgenic mouse model of neurodegeneration, CamKII-TetOp25 mice, to evaluate whether NF-L levels in CSF or blood can be used as a biochemical biomarker of neurodegeneration. Induction of p25 transgene brain expression led to increase in CSF and serum NF-L levels that correlated with ongoing neurodegeneration.