The D1.1 antigen: a cell surface marker for germinal cells of the central nervous system

Abstract

A monoclonal antibody against a cell surface ganglioside present on neuroepithelial cells was produced by immunizing mice with the B49 cell line, a clonal line with properties of both neurons and glial cells. The expression of this antigen, designated as D1.1, was analyzed in the developing rat cerebellum. The D1.1 antigen was localized by the immunofluorescent staining method to germinal cells of the external granule layer (EGL). Fluorescent labeling of cells comprising the EGL was apparent on embryonic day 18 when the EGL first forms, and the labeling was present throughout the period of postnatal cerebellar development. No cells within the adult cerebellum were labeled with the anti-D1.1 antibody. The D1.1-labeled cells of the EGL synthesize DNA, as demonstrated by [3H] thymidine autoradiography. However, within 48 hr after their final mitosis, nascent cerebellar cells that had migrated away from the external granule layer were no longer labeled with antibody. Some of the neurons and some of the astrocytes in cerebellar cell cultures were fluorescently labeled with the anti-D1.1 antibody. The number of anti-D1.1-labeled neurons in the cultures decreased over the first 10 days in vitro in agreement with the findings that in vivo the fluorescent labeling of the D1.1 antigen disappears from postmitotic cells. The antibody recognizes a ganglioside that in thin layer chromatographic experiments has a mobility between that of the GM1 and GM2 ganglioside. These data suggest that the D1.1 ganglioside antigen is a cell surface marker for germinal cells and that the acquisition and subsequent loss of this antigen is an aspect of the biochemical maturation of neurons and glial cells.

Selective expression of an endogenous lactose-binding lectin gene in subsets of central and peripheral neurons

“…Ganglioside structures on developing neuroblasts have also been suggested to modify neural cell adhesion by regulating the interactions of these cells with extracellular matrix molecules such as fibronectin (Stallcup et al, 1989). Moreover, various complex oligosaccharide antigens and several carbohydrate binding proteins have been localized to specific subsets of developing neurons (Dodd et al, 1984;Levine et al, 1984;Dodd and Jessell, 1985;Yamamoto et al, 1985;Jesse11 and Dodd, 1986;Blum and Bamstable, 1987). In the present study, we provide further information on the structure and specificity of expression of one carbohydrate binding protein within the mammalian nervous system.…”

“…Specific carbohydrate structures have been identified on subsets of embryonic and adult neurons (Levine et al, 1984;Yamamoto et al, 1985;Jesse11 and Dodd, 1986;Blum and Bamstable, 1987). Moreover, the restricted localization of some of these carbohydrates correlates with the physiological properties and projection patterns of neurons.…”

Protooncogene expression identifies a transient columnar organization of the forebrain within the late embryonic ventricular zone.

“…The few chemical and morphological markers [D1.1 (22), Rat401 (23), or Golgi staining (15,17,19)] that are present in the cells of the ventricular zone seem distributed in a homogeneous manner throughout the zone. However, there are two previous reports that butyrylcholinesterase (24) and acetylcholinesterase (25) are distributed heterogeneously in the embryonic ventricular zone.…”

Functional role of a specific ganglioside in neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth

“…The 9-O-acetyl GD3 is present in the retinas of all mammalian species studied so far but is not present in extracts of frog retinas (33). At least two other mAbs have been described (mAb D1.1 and RB13-2) that recognize the same epitope in nervous tissue (34,35). The immunoreactivity of the slower migrating band is also abolished by mild base treatment and it has been suggested that this band might correspond to 9-O-acetyl GQ1c (36).…”