A surface antigenic marker for rat Schwann cells

Abstract

THE use of cell-surface antigenic markers to identify and separate distinct subpopulations of lymphocytes has revolutionised immunology in recent years. It seems likely that a similar approach will be fruitful in other areas of biology. For example, recent advances in maintaining and studying cells of the nervous system in vitro have created a pressing need for cell-type-specific markers. These would allow unequivocal identification and possible purification of the many different types of neural cells so that their interactions can be studied in culture. Here we describe a cell-surface antigen, defined by an antiserum raised in mice against a rat neural tumour cell line¹ which is present on Schwann cells in dissociated cell culture of neonatal rat sciatic nerve, but not on fibroblasts in the same culture. Another cell-surface antigen, Thy-1.1 (formerly called ΘAKR)² is expressed by the fibroblasts³ and not the Schwann cells, making it possible to mark both cell types simultaneously in these cultures by using antibodies conjugated to two different fluorochromes.