Ten monoclonal antibodies to Alzheimer neurofibrillary tangles (ANTs) were produced by immunizing mice with a brain homogenate from senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT). In methanol-fixed isolated neuronal perikarya, six of these antibodies reacted with nearly every ANT, three recognized 70-88% of ANTs, and one bound to less than 30% of ANT. In paraffin sections, three of the antibodies did not bind to tangles that had been fixed in formalin, three stained weekly, and four reacted with tangles in tissues that had been in formalin for more than a decade. Immunoblotting of brain homogenates showed that all but one antibody reacted with proteins from SDAT samples insoluble in SDS and too large to enter even the 3% polyacrylamide stacking gel. Polypeptides extractable by Tris buffer of molecular weight 58, 66, and 70 kd were detected in both normal and SDAT brains by two antibodies and only in SDAT brain by two other antibodies. One antibody did not show any reaction on the immunoblot. The results demonstrate that the epitopes recognized by these antibodies are not identical and that ANTs contain unique antigenic determinants as well as determinants in common with normal brain. Whether the unique determinants are acquired during tangle development or are essential in tangle formation remains to be investigated.