STUDIES WITH ANTISERA AGAINST PERIPHERAL NERVOUS-SYSTEM MYELIN AND MYELIN BASIC-PROTEINS .2. IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDIES IN CULTURES OF RAT DORSAL-ROOT GANGLION NEURONS AND SCHWANN-CELLS

Antiserum against rat peripheral nervous system (PNS) myelin contained Ig which bound preferentially to the extracellular surfaces of myelin-related Schwann cells in intact cultures of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and Schwann cells, while antiserum against basic protein (BP) from CNS myelin or the PNS basic protein P2 did not. The presence of PNS myelin proteins P1 (identical to BP) and P2 was shown by immunoperoxidase techniques in DRG cultures that had been treated to disrupt cellular membranes. P1 and P2 are not exposed on the extracellular surfaces of myelin-related Schwann cells in culture. These results support the hypothesis concerning the possible mechanisms by which anti-PNS myelin serum demyelinates DRG cultures, while anti-BP serum and anti-P2 serum do not.