Antibody to myelin-associated glycoprotein produces central nervous system demyelination.
Antibodies to myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) have been implicated in certain human demyelinating diseases of the peripheral nervous system. In the present study, a monoclonal antibody to MAG with 20% guinea pig serum (GPS) was injected into mammalian optic nerves and produced in vivo demyelination associated with three ultrastructural patterns of myelin injury: (1) widened lamellae; (2) myelin vesiculation; and (3) cell-associated myelin damage. These patterns of myelin injury have been observed neuropathologically in MS and in a demyelinating peripheral neuropathy associated with plasma cell dyscrasias. Demyelination was not observed in nerves injected with anti-MAG and heated GPS or a monoclonal antibody to chick myoblasts and 20% GPS. These results establish the ability of anti-MAG to produce in vivo demyelination of mammalian CNS and indicate that a single antibody directed against a specific myelin component may initiate multiple types of myelin damage.
D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D001369:Axons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006168:Guinea Pigs / Q000097:blood; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009185:Myelin Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018992:Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure
D000906:Antibodies; D009185:Myelin Proteins; D018992:Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein