A monoclonal antibody defining antigenic determinants on subpopulations of mammalian neurones and Trypanosoma cruzi parasites

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Abstract
Hybridoma supernatants were screened by indirect immunofluorescence using transverse sections of rat-dorsal root ganglia. The distribution of cells labeled by a supernatant fraction (designated CE5) was determined by visualizing antibody binding sites with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) or peroxidase-conjugated rabbit anti-mouse IgM. Adult rat cerebellar cortex Purkinje neurons were the only cells labeled. A complex pattern of neuronal labeling with CE5 was observed in other regions of the CNS. Of 11 monoclonal antibodies raised against rat neurofilaments, neuroglial cells or other neural antigens, only CE5 and its subclones stained formaldehyde-fixed T. cruzi. Whereas both epimastigotes and amastigotes of T. cruzi exhibited bright immunofluorescence staining, T. brucei and Herpetomonas samuelpessoai showed no staining with CE5. The only central neurons so far reported to undergo degeneration are cerebellar Purkinje neurons. Extracts of cardiac muscle revealed an intense band of 2000 MW, whereas skeletal muscle showed no stained bands, in accord with immunocytochemical results.