Morphological distribution of MBP-like immunoreactivity in the brain during development

Myelin-basic protein (MBP)-like immunoreactivity was studied during development from postnatal day 1 to day 21 as a marker for the myelination process in the rat brain. Using monoclonal MBP antibodies, the caudo-rostral successive progression of MBP immunoreactivity was mapped in 1-, 7-, 14-, and 21-day-old animals using fluorescence microscopy of both coronal and sagittal sections. At 1 day of age, MBP-immunoreactive single fibers were seen in the lower brain stem, especially in formatio reticularis, whereas the rest of the brain was negative. In 1-week-old animals, MBP-positive fibers extended all the way into frontal cortex, but still in sparse arrays of single fibers with the largest number at the brain stem level. The 2-week stage showed a dramatic increase in the number of MBP-immunoreactive fibers. At the brain stem level, MBP-positive fiber plexuses were mixed with MBP-positive longitudinal axonal pathways. In cerebellar cortex, positive fibers began to radiate out from the white matter into the grey matter. A dense network of MBP-positive fibers was located in thalamus, and dense fluorescent fiber bundles were seen in capsula interna piercing through striatum. In cerebral cortex positive radiating fibers were considerably more numerous than at the previous stage. At the age of 3 weeks, MBP-immunoreactive fibers could be seen in networks and bundles in all parts of the brain. In the brain stem, a dense plexus of positive fibers filled formatio reticularis. In cortex cerebelli and cortex cerebri, a high density of radiating positive fibers was found. In striatum, a sparse distribution of single fibers was found in the neuropil surrounding the now strongly positive bundles of capsula interna. MBP-like immunoreactivity was followed during postnatal rat brain development and seemed to serve as a good indicator of progression of the myelinization process. With the excellent signal-to-noise ratio and the detailed morphological description of the distribution of MBP-like immunoreactivity, the present report can serve as a reference for studies of pathological disturbances of myelination in CNS as they relate to mechanical, chemical or hormonal perturbations.