Systematic screening and identification of antigens recognized by monoclonal antibodies raised against the developing lateral olfactory tract.

During development, olfactory bulb axons navigate a complex microenvironment composed of myriad molecules to construct a bundle called the lateral olfactory tract. The axons themselves also express thousands of different molecules. In the present study, we produced and characterized six monoclonal antibodies that label the lateral olfactory tract and its surroundings in a unique pattern. The labeling profiles suggested that the antigen molecules recognized by each antibody are heterogeneously distributed around the developing lateral olfactory tract. We developed an efficient screening method to identify the antigen molecules by combining expression of a cDNA library in COS-7 cells and the subsequent immunohistochemical staining of the cells. The systematic screening successfully identified specific cDNA clones for all of the monoclonal antibodies, which highly probably coded for the antigen molecules, and therefore unveiled the molecular nature of local components that embrace the developing lateral olfactory tract in mice.