Here we generated a phage based detection antibody against TDP-43 for use in a capture ELISA in conjunction with the 23 scFvs (Stages 1B and 2 from Additional file 1: Fig. S1) to analyze sporadic ALS, c9orf72 ALS, FTD and control human samples (Stage 3 from Additional file 1: Fig. S1). Here, TARDBP is linked to frontotemporal dementia.