Monoclonal antibody (M2) to glial and neuronal cell surfaces

A monoclonal antibody designated M2 arose from the fusion of mouse myeloma cells with splenocytes from a rat immunized with particulate fraction from early postnatal mouse cerebellum. Expression of M2 antigen was examined by indirect immunofluorescence on frozen sections of developing and adult mouse cerebellum and on monolayer cultures of early postnatal mouse cerebellar cells. In adult cerebellum, M2 staining outlines the cell bodies of granule and Purkinje cells. A weaker, more diffuse staining is seen in the molecular layer and white matter. In sections of newborn cerebellum, M2 antigen is weakly detectable surrounding cells of the external granular layer and Purkinje cells. The expression of M2 antigen increases during development in both cell types, reaching adult levels by postnatal day 14. At all stages of postnatal cerebellar development, granule cells that have completed migration to the internal granule layer are more heavily stained by M2 antibodies than are those before and in process of migration. In monolayer cultures, M2 antigen is detected on the cell surface of all GFA protein-positive astrocytes and on more immature oligodendrocytes that express 04 antigen but not 01 antigen. After 3 days in culture, tetanus toxin positive neurons begin to express M2 antigen. The same delayed expression of M2 antigen on neurons is observed in cultures derived from mice ranging in age from postnatal day 0 to 10.