LOCALIZATION OF THE THY‐1 ANTIGEN IN RAT BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD BY IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE

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Abstract
Abstract— The Thy‐1 antigen of rat brain is a membrane glycoprotein of molecular weight 17,500. It was localized in sections of brain and spinal cord by indirect immunofluorescence using rabbit antisera raised against purified Thy‐1 and fluorescein conjugated purified sheep F(ab')2, anti‐(rabbit IgG) antibody fragments. The specificity of the anti‐(Thy‐1) sera was tested by a quantitative indirect radioactive binding assay which is particularly useful for ascertaining the specificity of reagents used in immunohistochemical studies. Purified Thy‐1 was used to absorb the anti‐(Thy‐1) sera for controls in the immunofluorescence experiments. Strong specific fluorescence was found throughout the gray matter of brain and spinal cord with lesser amounts in white matter. The nuclei of all neural cells and also myelin lacked fluorescence. Some of the large neurons contained weak cytoplasmic fluorescence, but the majority of the immunofluorescence was located in the neuropil of the brain and spinal cord. There was an indication that Thy‐1 was associated with synaptic knobs due to its presence in synaptic glomeruli and its granular appearance around some neurons. An additional association with glial membranes could not be excluded.