Residual complement activity after incubation with myelin isolated from both the central and peripheral nervous...

The relative ability of isolated central and peripheral nervous system myelin to interact with the complement system of plasma proteins was studied. The myelin used was a highly pure form, devoid of contamination by any subcellular organelles or membranes. Residual complement activity was a linear function of increasing quantities of myelin from 10 to 40 micrograms of myelin protein. Central and peripheral nervous system myelin showed identical residual complement activity at various temperatures above 7 degrees C and also after various time periods of incubation. The results show that central and peripheral nervous system myelin show equal ability to interact with complement, in spite of their different origin and differences in morphology and protein composition.