Carbohydrate components recognized by the cone-specific monoclonal antibody CSA-1 and by peanut agglutinin are associated with red and green-sensitive cone photoreceptors.

Previous investigations have demonstrated that the monoclonal antibody CSA-1 and peanut agglutinin label specifically cone photoreceptor cells. In the present study, we compared the binding of CSA-1 and peanut agglutinin to that of the monoclonal antibodies COS-1 and OS-2, which have been shown to recognize the red/green- and blue-sensitive cone visual pigments, respectively. Using lectin and immunocytochemistry on serial semithin sections of the pig retina, we have demonstrated in the present study that both CSA-1 and peanut agglutinin label specifically the red-, and green-sensitive, but not the blue-sensitive cone cell outer segments. Peanut agglutinin does bind, however, to the cone matrix sheaths associated with all three types of cones. These observations support the idea that red-, and green-sensitive cone cells share some common molecular epitopes and may represent a differentiation line of cones, considerably different from that of blue-sensitive cones.