Abstract
When rabbits are injected with particulate fractions of cerebellum from 4-day-old
C57BL
6J
mice, an antiserum is produced that is cytotoxic for single-cell suspensions from cerebellum. After several absorptions with nonnervous system-derived tissues (liver, spleen, kidney, thymocytes) this heterologous antiserum reacts only with tissue from the developing and adult nervous system and sperm from vas deferens and epididymis. This antigen or set of antigens is present in neuroectodermally derived tissues at all ages tested: 12-day-old embryos and 12-month-old adults being the earliest and latest stages, respectively. The antigen is expressed not only on cerebellum but also on all parts of the normal central nervous system tested including retina. It is demonstrable on a murine medulloepithelioma and to a lesser degree on glioblastoma and ependymoblastoma but not on glioma G26, ependymoblastoma EPA and neuroblastoma C1300. The antigen is found in all mouse strains tested (
C57BL
6J
, ICR,
BALB
cJ
,
A
J
and (
C57BL
6J
×
C3H
HeJ
) F
1 hybrid) and in rat.