Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 6, 2045-2053, Copyright © 1986 by Society for Neuroscience
Monoclonal antibodies to the dentate gyrus: immunocytochemical characterization and flow cytometric analysis of hippocampal neurons bearing a unique cell-surface antigen
JR Moskal and AE Schaffner
Monoclonal antibodies were generated using 5 d neonatal rat dentate gyrus
as immunogen. One antibody of this panel, G6E3, recognized a cell- surface
protein with an Mr = 43,000 that was found only in the nervous system. The
antigen was expressed as early as embryonic day 13 in the rat in both the
brain and spinal cord. In the adult rat the antigen was demonstrated
immunohistochemically to be restricted to dentate gyrus granule,
hippocampal pyramidal, and cerebellar Purkinje neurons. These results
suggested that the antigen recognized by G6E3 may be developmentally
regulated. Moreover, G6E3 did not appear to bind to mitotic cells, implying
that the antigen was expressed after the terminal mitosis. The antibody
also bound to hippocampal and cerebellar cells from mouse brain, including
the reeler mutant, and rat hippocampal neurons in vitro. Double-labeling
experiments performed on embryonic rat hippocampal cultures with G6E3 and
antibodies to neuron- specific enolase (NSE) or anti-glutamic acid
decarboxylase (GAD) revealed that only NSE-positive cells were
immunoreactive for G6E3 and, while G6E3-positive cells were decorated with
GAD-positive boutons, their cell bodies did not contain GAD. With the use
of a fluorescence- activated cell sorter it was possible to analyze the
immune reaction on embryonic and postnatal hippocampal cells and to sort
G6E3-positive neurons for maintenance in vitro.