Binding of monoclonal anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein antibodies to human foetal peripheral neurons in culture.

Dorsal root ganglion cells, obtained from 8-10-week human foetuses, were isolated by enzymatic procedure and grown on poly-L-lysine-coated coverslips. Most of the cultured cells showed the ultrastructural and immunological features of normal peripheral neurons. By immunocytochemistry neurons reacted with IgM antibodies with specificity for myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) from patients affected with IgM k gammopathy and peripheral neuropathy. The antigen was located on the plasmalemma of both perikarion and axon. We suggest that anti-MAG antibodies do not recognize neuronal MAG, but rather an epitope shared with different glycoproteins.