Mapping of three carbohydrate attachment sites in embryonic and adult forms of the neural cell adhesion molecule

The sialic-rich carbohydrate moiety of the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) undergoes major structural changes during development and plays a significant role in altering the homophilic binding of the molecule. In order to understand the mechanism of these changes, a cyanogen bromide (CNBr) fragment that contained 90% of the sialic acid of N-CAM was isolated and characterized according to the number of carbohydrate attachment sites and reactivity with specific monoclonal antibodies. The CNBr sialopeptide migrated on SDS PAGE as a broad zone of Mr 42,000-60,000. Upon treatment with neuraminidase, it was converted to a single component of Mr 42,000, and subsequent, limited treatment with endoglycosidase F gave four evenly spaced components of Mr 35,000-42,000, suggesting that it contained three attachment sites for N-linked oligosaccharides. The fragment reacted with monoclonal antibody 15G8, which detects the sialic acid in embryonic N-CAM, and with a monoclonal antibody, anti-(N-CAM) No. 2. Treatment with neuraminidase or with endoglycosidase F destroyed reactivity with 15G8 but not with anti-(N-CAM) No. 2. A similar CNBr sialopeptide was obtained from adult N-CAM; it contained sialic acid, had three N-linked oligosaccharides and reacted with anti-(N-CAM) No. 2 but not with 15G8 monoclonal antibodies. A peptide fragment, Fr2, comprising the NH2 terminal and middle regions of the molecule yielded a CNBr fragment closely similar to the fragment obtained from the whole molecule. The CNBr fragment from Fr2 reacted with monoclonal antibody anti-(N-CAM) No. 2. Fr1, comprising the NH2 terminal region alone, failed to react. These data confirm that the majority of the sialic acid is localized in the middle region of the N-CAM molecule and support the hypothesis that embryonic to adult conversion of N-CAM is the result of differences in sialidase or sialytransferase activity.     

Molecular forms of N-CAM and its RNA in developing and denervated skeletal muscle

The neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) is present in both embryonic and perinatal muscle, but its distribution changes as myoblasts form myotubes and axons establish synapses (Covault, J., and J. R. Sanes, 1986, J. Cell Biol., 102:716-730). Levels of N-CAM decline postnatally but increase when adult muscle is denervated or paralyzed (Covault, J., and J. R. Sanes, 1985, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA., 82:4544-4548). To determine the molecular forms of N-CAM and N-CAM-related RNA during these different periods we used immunoblotting and nucleic acid hybridization techniques to analyze N-CAM and its RNA in developing, cultured, adult, and denervated adult muscle. As muscles develop, the extent of sialylation of muscle N-CAM decreases, and a 140-kD desialo form of N-CAM (generated by neuraminidase treatment) is replaced by a 125-kD form. This change in the apparent molecular weight of desialo N-CAM is paralleled by a change in N-CAM RNA: early embryonic muscles express a 6.7-kb RNA species which hybridizes with N-CAM cDNA, whereas in neonatal muscle this form is largely replaced by 5.2- and 2.9-kb species. Similar transitions in the desialo form of N-CAM, but not in extent of sialylation, accompany differentiation in primary cultures of embryonic muscle and in cultures of the clonal muscle cell lines C2 and BC3H-1. Both in vivo and in vitro, a 140-kD desialo form of N-CAM and a 6.7-kb N-CAM RNA are apparently associated with myoblasts, whereas a 125-kD desialo form and 5.2- and 2.9-kb RNAs are associated with myotubes and myofibers. After denervation of adult muscle, a approximately 12-15-fold increase in the levels of N-CAM is accompanied by a approximately 30-50-fold increase in N-CAM RNA, suggesting that N-CAM expression is regulated at a pretranslational level. Forms of N-CAM and its RNA in denervated muscle are similar to those seen in perinatal myofibers.     

N-CAM at the vertebrate neuromuscular junction

We have detected the neural cell adhesion molecule, N-CAM, at nerve-muscle contacts in the developing and adult mouse diaphragm. Whereas we found N-CAM staining with fluorescent antibodies consistently to overlap with the pattern of alpha-bungarotoxin staining at nerve-muscle contacts both during development and in the adult, we observed N-CAM staining on the surfaces of developing myofibers and at much lower levels on adult myofibers. Consistent with its function, N-CAM was also detected on axons and axon terminals. Immunoblotting experiments with anti-N-CAM antibodies on detergent extracts of embryonic (E) diaphragm muscle revealed a polydisperse polysialylated N-CAM polypeptide, which in the adult (A) was converted to a discrete form of Mr 140,000; this change, called E-to-A conversion, was previously found to occur in different neural tissues at different rates. The Mr 140,000 component was not recognized by monoclonal antibody anti-N-CAM No. 5, which specifically recognizes antigenic determinants associated with N-linked oligosaccharide determinants on N-CAM from neural tissue. The relative concentration of the Mr 140,000 component prepared from diaphragm muscle increased during fetal development and then decreased sharply to reach adult values. Nevertheless, expression of N-CAM in muscle could be induced after denervation: one week after the sciatic nerve was severed, the relative amount of N-CAM increased dramatically as detected by immunoblots of extracts of whole muscle. Immunofluorescent staining confirmed that there was an increase in N-CAM, both in the cell and at the cell surface; at the same time, however, staining at the motor endplate was diminished. Our findings indicate that, in muscle, in addition to chemical modulation, cell-surface modulation of N-CAM occurs both in amount and distribution during embryogenesis and in response to denervation.     

Difference in the expression of asymmetric acetylcholinesterase molecular forms during myogenesis in early avian dermomyotomes and limb buds in ovo and in vitro

The A12 (asymmetric) form of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is generally considered to be synthesized in leg muscle tissues by myotubes under neural influence, but not by myoblasts. We have examined the expression of the different molecular forms of AChE in explants of developing limb buds and dermomyotomes (the myogenic part of the somites) obtained from 3-day-old chick and quail embryos, either directly after removal or during in vitro culture. We describe a muscular differentiation of both territories in vitro, leading to the formation of myotubes which are morphologically similar to the class of early muscle cells described by Bonner and Hauschka (1974). In vivo the A12 form is present in quail dermomyotomes which are almost entirely composed of mononucleated poorly differentiated cells; in contrast, it is absent from similar cells in chick dermomyotomes and from limb buds in both species. This shows that in the case of quail embryos the appearance of the A12 form precedes the fusion of myoblasts into myotubes. In both species, dermomyotome explants express asymmetric and globular forms of the enzyme during muscular differentiation in vitro, whereas limb buds synthesize only globular forms. After surgical removal of neural tube and/or neural crest at 2 days in ovo, the biosynthesis of the A forms in quail dermomyotomes is not suppressed and is consequently not dependent upon prior connection of the dermomyotomes to central neurons or upon the presence of autonomic precursors. Since limb bud muscle cells derive from somites our results raise questions concerning the differentiation of migrating somitic cells in this territory where a neural influence appears necessary to induce the biosynthesis of asymmetric AChE forms.     

A monoclonal antibody against meningococcus group B polysaccharides distinguishes embryonic from adult N-CAM

The neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAM) occur chiefly in two molecular forms that are selectively expressed at various stages of development. Highly sialylated forms prevalent in embryonic and neonatal brain are gradually replaced by less sialylated forms as development proceeds. Here we describe a monoclonal antibody raised against the capsular polysaccharides of meningococcus group B (Men B) which specifically distinguishes embryonic N-CAM from adult N-CAM. This antibody recognizes alpha 2-8-linked N-acetylneuraminic acid units (NeuAc alpha 2-8). Immunoblot together with immunoprecipitation experiments with cell lines or tissue extracts showed that N-CAM are the major glycoproteins bearing such polysialosyl units. Moreover we could not detect any sialoglycolipid reactive with this antibody in mouse brain or in the neural cell lines examined. By indirect immunofluorescence staining this anti-Men B antibody decorated cells such as AtT20 (D16/16), which expressed the embryonic forms of N-CAM, but not cells that expressed the adult forms. In primary cultures this antibody allowed us to follow the embryonic-to-adult conversion in individual cells. In addition, the existence of cross-reactive polysialosyl structures on Men B and N-CAM in embryonic brain cells for caution in efforts to develop immunotherapy against neonatal meningitis.     

Differentiation-Dependent Sialylation of Individual Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule Polypeptides During Postnatal Development

The postnatal sialylation of individual neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) polypeptides by a developmentally regulated sialyltransferase in Golgi-enriched fractions isolated from rat brain is described. The 120-kilodalton polypeptide of N-CAM was found to be sialylated at each developmental age examined. This was in contrast to the 140- and 180-kilodalton N-CAM polypeptides which were only sialylated until postnatal day 10 and from postnatal day 12, respectively. Immunoblotting procedures demonstrated that all N-CAM polypeptides were expressed in the Golgi fractions at each developmental stage examined. The heavily sialylated "embryonic" form of N-CAM was found to be reexpressed at postnatal days 10 and 12, a time coincident with extensive fibre outgrowth. The "embryonic" form of N-CAM incorporated similar amounts of [14C]sialic acid into its constituent polypeptides reflecting the difference in sialic acid to protein ratio, as this form of N-CAM was virtually undetectable in the immunoblots of postnatal material.     

Neurite outgrowth in response to transfected N-CAM changes during development and is modulated by polysialic acid

We have used monolayers of control 3T3 cells and 3T3 cells transfected with a cDNA encoding human N-CAM as a culture substrate for embryonic chick retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). At embryonic day 6 (E6), but not at E11, RGCs extended longer neurites on monolayers of N-CAM-transfected cells. This loss of RGC responsiveness was not associated with substantial changes in the level of N-CAM expression on RGC growth cones. The neurite outgrowth response from E6 RGCs could be inhibited by removal of N-CAM from the monolayer, by removal of alpha 2-8-linked polysialic acid from neuronal N-CAM, or by antibodies that bind exclusively to chick (neuronal) N-CAM. In contrast, the response was not dependent on neuronal beta 1 integrin function. These data provide substantive evidence for a homophilic binding mechanism directly mediating N-CAM-dependent neurite outgrowth, and suggest that changes in polysialic acid expression on neuronal N-CAM may modulate N-CAM-dependent axonal growth during development.     

Induction of an epithelial-mesenchymal transition by an in vivo adheron-like complex

The embryonic vertebrate heart consists of two epithelia: the myocardium and endothelium, separated by the myocardial basement membrane (MBM). The myocardium has been shown to induce endothelial transformation into prevalvular mesenchyme in a temporally and site restricted manner. Previously, we hypothesized that the myocardial-endothelial interaction is mediated in vivo by aggregates of 30-nm particles in the MBM which can be removed by EDTA extraction. These MBM extracts contain fibronectin and other lower Mr proteins and can initiate an epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the AV (atrioventricular canal) endothelium of embryonic chick heart in collagen gel culture. These and other data suggested that the 30-nm multicomponent particles are similar, structurally and compositionally, to multimolecular complexes, termed adherons, secreted by L6 muscle cells in culture. The purpose of this study was to (1) test whether the removal of the 30-nm particles from MBM extracts of embryonic chick hearts would remove the in vitro biological activity and (2) determine if the fractionated MBM extracts can cause AV endothelial cells to follow the same differentiation pathway observed in vivo by monitoring immunohistochemically the cell surface expression of N-CAM. Results showed that centrifugation of extract at 100,000g for 1 hr produced a supernatant fraction that was unable to initiate mesenchyme formation from AV endothelium. However, the resuspended pellet fraction did initiate differentiation of endothelium into mesenchyme. Conditioned medium from L6 skeletal muscle cultures could not substitute for the EDTA extract of embryonic heart. Endothelial cells undergoing the transition to form mesenchyme, both in vivo and in vitro, showed a concomitant decrease in N-CAM staining. This suggested that the pellet-induced formation of migrating cells in the collagen gels is not the result a novel in vitro phenomenon.     

Structural and immunological characterization of the amino-terminal domain of mammalian neural cell adhesion molecules

The neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAMs) are a group of structurally and immunologically related glycoproteins found in vertebrate neural tissues. Adult brain N-CAMs have apparent molecular weights of 180,000 and 140,000 with an additional form at 120,000 in murine brain. In embryonic brain, N-CAMs are represented by a highly sialylated form with an apparent molecular weight greater than 180,000. We have used monoclonal antibodies that cross-react with N-CAMs of various mammalian species to purify N-CAMs from adult murine and bovine brains and from embryonic murine brains. We determined the amino acid sequences of the amino-terminal domains of these molecules: Leu-Gln-Val-Asp-Ile-Val-Pro-Ser-Gln-Gly-Glu-Ile-Ser-Val-Gly-Glu-Ser. This sequence is highly conserved among all three forms of adult murine brain N-CAM as well as embryonic murine brain N-CAM and adult bovine brain N-CAM. Based on this sequence, we synthesized an undecapeptide and used it to raise a site-directed polyclonal antiserum. This antiserum reacted with the intact N-CAM in liquid phase radioimmunoassays, immunoblotting experiments, and immunofluorescent labeling of cells. The antiserum also reacted with N-CAMs in extracts of brain tissues from different species, confirming the highly conserved nature of the amino-terminal domain of mammalian N-CAMs. Immunofluorescence experiments indicated that this domain resides on the outer surfaces of cells that express N-CAMs, in both primary neuronal cell culture and in cell lines.     

Distribution of N-CAM in synaptic and extrasynaptic portions of developing and adult skeletal muscle

Previous studies of denervated and cultured muscle have shown that the expression of the neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) in muscle is regulated by the muscle's state of innervation and that N-CAM might mediate some developmentally important nerve-muscle interactions. As a first step in learning whether N-CAM might regulate or be regulated by nerve-muscle interactions during normal development, we have used light and electron microscopic immunohistochemical methods to study its distribution in embryonic, perinatal, and adult rat muscle. In embryonic muscle, N-CAM is uniformly present on the surface of myotubes and in intramuscular nerves; N-CAM is also present on myoblasts, both in vivo and in cultures of embryonic muscle. N-CAM is lost from the nerves as myelination proceeds, and from myotubes as they mature. The loss of N-CAM from extrasynaptic portions of the myotube is a complex process, comprising a rapid rearrangement as secondary myotubes form, a phase of decline late in embryogenesis, a transient reappearance perinatally, and a more gradual disappearance during the first two postnatal weeks. Throughout embryonic and perinatal life, N-CAM is present at similar levels in synaptic and extrasynaptic regions of the myotube surface. However, N-CAM becomes concentrated in synaptic regions postnatally: it is present in postsynaptic and perisynaptic areas of the muscle fiber, both on the surface and intracellularly (in T-tubules), but undetectable in portions of muscle fibers distant from synapses. In addition, N-CAM is present on the surfaces of motor nerve terminals and of Schwann cells that cap nerve terminals, but absent from myelinated portions of motor axons and from myelinating Schwann cells. Thus, in the adult, N-CAM is present in synaptic but not extrasynaptic portions of all three cell types that comprise the neuromuscular junction. The times and places at which N-CAM appears are consistent with its playing several distinct roles in myogenesis, synaptogenesis, and synaptic maintenance, including alignment of secondary along primary myotubes, early interactions of axons with myotubes, and adhesion of Schwann cells to nerve terminals.     

Phosphoproteins of chicken bone matrix. Proof of synthesis in bone tissue

Twelve-day-old embryonic chick mandibles were cultured in vitro for 6 days. Measurements of the weights of the explants, their mineral and protein components, and the EDTA-extractable proteins established that bone tissue synthesizes O-phosphoserine- and O-phosphothreonine-containing phosphoproteins which are similar to those present in embryonic and postnatal chicken bone matrix. The synthesis of the phosphoproteins was further confirmed by the demonstration that radioactively labeled O-phosphoserine and O-phosphothreonine were identified in bone and in the EDTA-extractable phosphoproteins after pulse-labeling chick mandibles in vitro with radioactively labeled serine and threonine, respectively.     

The development of cystic embryoid bodies in vitro from clonal teratocarcinoma stem cells

Previous findings on exogenous RNA-induced heart muscle differentiation in the non-heartforming cultured explants of the chick blastoderm, the postnodal pieces, were reexamined. Some of the changes that characterized the transition in the host tissues were: (i) the formation of highly ordered myofibrils; (ii) the appearance of characteristic cytoplasmic glycogen particles; (iii) a 2.5- and 3.5-fold increase in actin and myosin-like polypetides respectively; (iv) an increase in acetylcholinesterase activity; and (v) the acquisition of spontaneous and rhythmic pulsations. These specific changes appeared only in those explants that received a poly(A)-containing RNA fraction obtained from the 16-day-old chick embryonic heart. Neither synthetic polynucleotides nor a variety of RNA from several sources could replace the RNA from chick embryonic heart as an inducer of heart muscle differentiation.     

Structural and functional studies on N-CAM neural cell adhesion molecules

The neural cell adhesion molecules N-CAM are to date the best characterized adhesion molecules of the nervous system. They have a high content of sialic acid residues which are present in the form of unusual sialic acid polymers. During development, a 3 fold decrease in the sialic acid content is observed. These changes in the degree of sialylation profoundly affect the binding properties of the molecules. A subpopulation of mouse brain N-CAM bears a carbohydrate determinant shared with other brain cell surface proteins and with the HNK-1 antigen of natural killer cells. Not only the carbohydrate side chains but also the protein moieties of the N-CAMs are heterogeneous. Three polypeptides of 180 K, 140 K and 120 K have been characterized in mouse brain. The 180 K and 140 K chains span the membrane. They differ mainly by the length of their cytoplasmic extensions. These intracellular domains are unusually long and contain phosphorylated serine residues. The 120 K chain exists in two forms, one membrane-bound and one soluble. Earlier studies had shown the presence of N-CAM on neurones and astrocytes of the mouse central nervous system, whereas cultured astrocytes had been reported to be N-CAM-negative. Recent results show that N-CAM is also expressed on astrocytes in culture. To study expression and heterogeneity of N-CAM polypeptides at the mRNA and gene level, cDNA clones for mouse N-CAM have been isolated. They reveal multiple mRNA species in mouse brain. By contrast, the corresponding sequences seem to be present only a few times, perhaps only once, in the mouse genome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

DISEASED MUSCLE CELLS IN CULTURE

(1) Cultures of differentiated muscle cells have been grown from diseased human, mouse and chick skeletal muscle, and from cardiac muscle of the myopathic hamster. (2) Methods of culture established for normal embryonic and adult skeletal muscle cells have proved suitable for cultures of diseased muscle cells. (3) Myoblasts obtained from dy^2J mouse muscle crushed in vivo before explanting fuse in culture and form morphologically normal myotubes. Studies of the effects of innervation by dy^2J spinal cord neurones on the differentiation of normal, dy^2J and dy myotubes have been inconclusive but it is probable that innervation does not play a part in the pathogenesis of this disorder. (4) Myoblasts prepared by trypsinization of embryonic dy muscle behave normally in culture and fuse to form myotubes that appear normal. It is not clear if myoblasts that migrate from explants of adult muscle in vitro fuse. Aggregates of non-fusing cells have been described, but under other culture conditions normal and abnormal forms of myotube have been observed. dy muscle fibres fail to regenerate even when cultured with normal spinal cord explants and dy nerves are without effect on regenerating normal muscle fibres. These tissue-culture studies suggest that the dy mouse mutation is a myopathic disorder. (5) Embryonic mdg myoblasts have a normal cell cycle in vitro and fuse to form well-differentiated myotubes with cross-striations. mdg myotubes have normal electro-physiological properties but do not contract spontaneously or on depolarization. The defect in the muscle of the mdg mutant appears to be a failure of excitation-contraction coupling. (6) Cells migrate earlier from explants of adult dystrophic chick muscle than from normal muscle but dystrophic chick myotubes appear morphologically normal. Myotubes prepared from embryonic dystrophic chick muscle become vacuolated and degenerate, changes that can be prevented by anti-proteases such as antipain. Lactic dehydrogenase isozyme subunit M4 is absent from dystrophic muscle in vivo but reappears in cultured myotubes. Dystrophic myotubes innervated in culture by either normal or dystrophic neurones exhibit bi-directional lcoupling and multiple innervation. These results suggest that there are changes in dystrophic myotubes and that chick muscular dystrophy is a myopathy. (7) Cardiac muscle cells from the cardiomyopathic hamster synthesize less actin and myosin than normal cells, and Z lines in dystrophic cells are irregularly arranged. The beat frequency of myopathic cardiac cells is lower than that of normal cells and declines more rapidly. Tissue-culture studies have not been made of hamster skeletal muscle. (8) Human dystrophic myotubes do not show degenerative changes in culture and have normal histochemical reactions. RNA synthesis appears normal in dystrophic myotubes but there may be changes in adenyl-cyclase activity and protein synthesis in dystrophic cells. Morphological and biochemical changes have been found in muscle cells cultured from a case of acid-maltase deficiency but phosphorylase activity re-appeared in myotubes cultured from biopsies of phosphorylase-deficient muscle. Innervation by normal mouse nerves does not induce degenerative changes in dystrophic myotubes. (9) Studies on the origins of myoblasts in explants of muscle fibres in culture suggest that in these conditions myoblasts are derived only from satellite cells and that this process may be the same in normal and diseased muscle.     

N-CAM is not required for initiation of secondary chondrogenesis: the role of N-CAM in skeletal condensation and differentiation.

Condensation precedes chondrogenic differentiation during development of primary cartilage. While neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) enhances condensation, it is unclear whether N-CAM is also required for initiation of chondrogenic differentiation. In this study, the role of N-CAM in secondary chondrogenesis from periosteal cells of the quadratojugal (QJ) from embryonic chicks was studied using several in vitro approaches. The QJ is a membrane bone and so is not preceded by cartilage formation during development. However, QJ periosteal cells can differentiate into chondrocytes to form secondary cartilage in vivo. When QJ periosteal cells were enzymatically released and plated in low density monolayer, clonal or agarose cultures, chondrogenesis was initiated in the absence of N-CAM expression. Furthermore, overexpression of the N-CAM gene in periosteal cells in monolayer culture significantly reduced the number of chondrocyte colonies, suggesting that N-CAM inhibits secondary chondrogenesis. In contrast, and consistent with expression in vivo, N-CAM is expressed during osteogenesis from QJ periosteal cells and mandibular mesenchyme in vitro. These results are discussed in relation to the role of N-CAM in osteogenesis and in primary and secondary condensation.     

FGF2 plays a key role in embryonic cerebrospinal fluid trophic properties over chick embryo neuroepithelial stem cells

During early stages of brain development, neuroepithelial stem cells undergo intense proliferation as neurogenesis begins. Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) has been involved in the regulation of these processes, and although it has been suggested that they work in an autocrine-paracrine mode, there is no general agreement on this because the behavior of neuroepithelial cells is not self-sufficient in explants cultured in vitro. In this work, we show that during early stages of development in chick embryos there is another source of FGF2, besides that of the neuroepithelium, which affects the brain primordium, since the cerebrospinal fluid (E-CSF) contains several isoforms of this factor. We also demonstrate, both in vitro and in vivo, that the FGF2 from the E-CSF has an effect on the regulation of neuroepithelial cell behavior, including cell proliferation and neurogenesis. In order to clarify putative sources of FGF2 in embryonic tissues, we detected by in situ hybridization high levels of mRNA expression in notochord, mesonephros and hepatic primordia, and low levels in brain neuroectoderm, corroborated by semiquantitative PCR analysis. Furthermore, we show that the notochord segregates several FGF2 isoforms which modify the behavior of the neuroepithelial cells in vitro. In addition, we show that the FGF2 ligand is present in the embryonic serum; and, by means of labeled FGF2, we prove that this factor passes via the neuroepithelium from the embryonic serum to the E-CSF in vivo. Considering all these results, we propose that, in chick embryos, the behavior of brain neuroepithelial stem cells at the earliest stages of development is influenced by the action of the FGF2 contained within the E-CSF which could have an extraneural origin, thus suggesting a new and complementary way of regulating brain development.     

Individual neural cell types express immunologically distinct N-CAM forms

The neural cell adhesion molecules, or N-CAMs, are a group of structurally and immunologically related glycoproteins found in vertebrate neural tissues. Adult brain N-CAMs have apparent molecular weights of 180,000, 140,000, and 120,000. In this article we identify, using monoclonal antibody (Mab) 3G6.41, an immunologically distinct adult rat N-CAM form and show that this form is selectively expressed by some clonal neural cell lines. Consecutive immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that rabbit anti-N-CAM can remove from solubilized cerebellar neuron primary cultures all 180,000- and 140,000-mol-wt N-CAM molecules that react with Mab 3G6.41. However Mab 3G6.41 cannot remove all N-CAM molecules that react with rabbit anti-N-CAM. Rabbit anti-N-CAM binds to and immunoprecipitates N-CAM forms from the rat neuronal cell lines B35, B65, and B104, the glial lines B12 and C6, and L6 myoblasts. Mab 3G6.41 does not bind to or immunoprecipitate N-CAM from the B12 and B65 lines but does react with the other four lines by both criteria. Many cells in primary cultures of postnatal rat that express glial fibrillary acidic protein also bind Mab 3G6.41. Thus a unique form of rat N-CAM recognized by Mab 3G6.41 is found on some but not all neuronal, glial, and muscle cells.     

The ability of the epithelium of diencephalic origin to differentiate into cells of the ocular lens.

After the discovery that in adult salamanders following lentectomy a new, functional lens develops by transdifferentiation (cell-type conversion) of previously depigmented epithelial cells of the iris (Wolffian lens regeneration), this phenomenon has been intensively studied by various experimental approaches. During the last two decades it was shown that pleiomorphic aggregates of atypical lens cells (lentoids) differentiated in reaggregates of dissociated cells of the chick neural retina and in spread cell cultures of the pigmented epithelium of the iris and retina, of the neural retina and the pineal gland of the chick embryo. The neural retina of human fetuses and adults also displayed this capacity. We showed that lentoids developed at a low incidence in renal isografts of rat embryonic shields or isolated embryonic ectoderm and of lentectomized eyes of rat fetuses, as well as in organ cultures of rat embryonic shields in chemically defined media. The addition of transferrin significantly increased the incidence of differentiation of lentoids in explants. In both renal isografts and explants in vitro a continuous transformation of retinal epithelial cells into atypical lens cells was observed. In renal isografts lentoids were also observed to originate from the ependyma of the brain ventricle. All tissues having the capacity to convert into lens cells belong to the diencephalon in a broad sense. Evolutionary aspects of this feature are discussed.