Effects of anti-white matter serum on myelin and lipid synthesis in brain prisms

Tissue prisms prepared by choping whole mouse brain maintained respiratory capacity and ultrastructural integrity of 3 h in vitro. Normal rabbit serum (ca. 25%) caused no morphological change but inhibited the synthesis of galactolipids by the prisms. Heating the serum abolished the inhibition. Complement containing anti-white matter rabbit serum destroyed myelin and inhibited galactolipid synthesis to a greater degree than did normal serum. Structures other than myelin were unaffected by the antiserum. Incubation in the presence of heated anti-white matter serum eliminated the myelin destruction but resulted in specific morphological changes characterized by the doubling of the myelin lamellae at the intraperiod line. Immunoperoxidase studies suggest specific binding of immunoglobulin to components of myelin located at the intraperiod lone. These changes were similar to those found in organotypic cultures. Heated antiserum did not inhibit galactolipid synthesis but addition of complement (normal guinea pig serum) to the heated antiserum restored only that portion of the inhibition which exceeded that caused by normal serum. Heat labile factors in normal rabbit serum which inhibit myelin lipid synthesis in the prisms must be corrected for in studies in which the heating of serum is used to demonstrate that the effect is complement dependent. The prism system is simpler than that of organotypic cultures and may be useful in the study of myelinotoxic factors.