A search for antibodies against glial cells in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barré syndrome

We have used indirect immunofluorescence to examine the binding of immunoglobulin in sera from patients with multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, other neurological diseases, and normal subjects to marker-identified glial cells in dissociated primary cell cultures of neonatal rat corpus callosum and sciatic nerve.<p></p> In corpus callosum cultures all the sera tested showed weak surface staining of oligodendrocytes and of a small percentage of astrocytes and bright staining of fibroblasts. The cerebrospinal fluid from one patient with multiple sclerosis showed the same pattern of staining while the cerebrospinal fluid from other patients with multiple sclerosis and pathological controls only showed weak staining of fibroblasts. None of the sera stained the cytoplasm of oligodendrocytes in frozen sections of adult rat optic nerve. In sciatic nerve cultures all sera showed weak staining of Schwann cells and fibroblasts.<p></p> Thus we were unable to distinguish patients with demyelinating diseases from normal individuals or from patients with other neurological diseases in terms of serum or cerebrospinal fluid anti-glial cell antibodies.<p></p&gt

Strategies for the classification, identification and potential therapy of gliomas using phenotypic markers

No abstract available

Strategies for the classification, identification and potential therapy of gliomas using phenotypic markers

No abstract available

Astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in dissociated cell culture of adult rat optic nerve

We have prepared dissociated cell cultures from adult rat optic nerve. After 48 h in culture cells of both fibroblastic and process-bearing morphology could be recognised. Using indirect immunofluroescence and cell-type specific markers it was possible to unambiguously identify astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in culture. Approximately 0.1% of cells were galactocerebroside<sup>+</sup> ligodendrocytes, 20% were GFAP+astrocytes and 30% were fibronectin<sup>+</sup>, Thy-1<sup>+</sup>, GFAP− fibroblastoid cells. Fifty percent of the GFAP<sup>+</sup> astrocytes expressed the Thy-1 antigen but none of them expresses fibronectin. All of the oligodendrocytes expressed intracellular myelin basic protein. Thus, glial cells isolated from adult tissues were similar in their antigenic properties to such cells isolated from neonatal tissues

Antisera to bovine oligodendroglia raised in guinea pigs bind to surface of rat oligodendroglia and Schwann cells

Antisera against bulk isolated bovine oligodendrocytes was raised in 2 guinea pigs (GPaBO). The sera bound only to surface of rat oligodendrocytes in dissociated rat corpus callosum and cerebellar cultures and only to surface of Schwann cells in primary and secondary sciatic nerve and dorsal root ganglia cultures as determined by indirect immunofluorescence. No cells in muscle or retinal cultures bound the guinea pig antisera. The shared antigen does not seem to be either galactocerebroside (GalC) or a myelin basic protein. GPaBO can serve as a useful marker in double-label experiments to identify oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells in dissociated cultures