A monoclonal antibody recognizing a common antigen on neurons and fibroblasts in chicken and quail

A monoclonal antibody, FiN1, obtained by immunization of a mouse with homogenates of embryonic quail nodose ganglia, was found to react with a surface antigenic determinant, both in quail and chick, present on practically all neurons of the spinal cord and of the peripheral nervous system and on a subpopulation of fibroblasts. An ontogenetic study performed on tissue sections, cell suspensions and cultures showed that FiN1 defines a differentiation marker which appears relatively late in development, during the second half of embryonic life, and persists after hatching. The onset and evolution of its expression during development varies in a tissue-specific manner.